(Foreign News)Alexander Van der Bellen wins Austrian presidential election, narrowly defeating far-right candidate.

Independent candidate Alexander Van der Bellen has narrowly beaten far-right candidate Norbert Hofer to become Austria's next president in a tightly fought contest decided by mail-in votes.

His victory Monday prevented Hofer, of Austria's Freedom Party, from becoming the European Union's first far-right head of state.

Austrian Interior Minister Wolfgang Sobotka announced the results Monday in Vienna, revealing that Van der Bellen had won 50.3% of the ballot (2,254,484 votes) to Hofer's 49.7% (2,223,458 votes).

Van der Bellen, a 72-year-old economist, ran as an independent, although the Green Party, of which he was a former leader, financially backed his campaign.

Hofer had held a narrow lead in the neck-and-neck race on Sunday evening, with 51.9% of the vote to Van der Bellen's 48.1%, according to Austria's Interior Ministry.

In the end, the race was decided by more than 700,000 mail-in votes, accounting for 14% of eligible voters.

Van der Bellen, who fared better with urban voters, had been expected to secure more of the mail-in votes than his 45-year-old rival, a trained aeronautical engineer, who drew strong support in rural areas. Hofer had won 35% in the first round of voting last month to Van der Bellen's 21%.

In a Facebook post conceding to Van der Bellen on Monday, Hofer said he was thankful for the opportunity given, urged voters not to despair and said he would have been happy to take care of the country.