What is the definition of a pub used here? A pub in a traditional sense is a bar licensed to sell alcoholic drinks to be consumed on premises and where patrons are allowed to drink alcohol, and is not a hotel. Most countries prohibit drinking alcohol in the public outside of such establishments.

In the nineties, my dad used to work in St. Pantaleon in Braunau district, a village of ca. 3,000, right at the border with Salzburg. There used to be a Gasthof there (torn down since then) and at least two more place where you could get a drink (one by the Höllerersee lake, and one disco/pub in Trimmelkam). I guess the Gasthof wouldn't really qualify since it's an inn, but the other bars would certainly qualify to be pubs.

Thus, if a sparsely populated agricultural commune (Gemeinde) of several thousand residents with very little tourism could support at least two pubs (ca. one per 2,500) plus one drinking place (right across the street of where my dad rented an apartment), I doubt that there would be less than several thousand pubs in all of Austria.

Unless it's a "pub" as in a traditional English, Welsh, Scottish or Irish pub, complete with the decor and selection of dishes and drinks, in which case I'm shocked there are that many such pubs in Austria.