The Freedom Party of Austria (FPÖ), which had won over 20% in the previous election, lost more than half its vote share and fell to 8%; most of this flowed to the SPÖ.

Despite this, parties still establish formal coalitions to organise cabinet positions and ensure a Landtag majority for legislative purposes.

In the 1997 state election, the ÖVP and SPÖ suffered minor losses to the FPÖ and Greens, the latter of which entered the Landtag for the first time.

The 56 seats of the Landtag of Upper Austria are elected via open list proportional representation in a two-step process.

For parties to receive any representation in the Landtag, they must either win at least one seat in a constituency directly, or clear a 4 percent state-wide electoral threshold.