Although the Grand Duchy’s population growth is back to pre-pandemic levels, more and more Luxembourgers are deciding to leave the country for good.
According to the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies (STATEC), 645,397 people lived in Luxembourg on 1 January this year. After a demographic slowdown in 2020, the Grand Duchy’s population grew again by more than 10,000 people in 2021. 88% of this 1.7% increase can be traced back to international migration.
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3,063 Luxembourgers decided to move away from the Grand Duchy last year while 1,577 natives returned after a spell abroad. Elevated housing prices are a potential explanation for this negative migratory trend, as more and more people have chosen to move to the border region over the last few years.
The average age of people living in Luxembourg is 40.4 years for women and 39 years for men. This is younger than the European average and comes mostly down to foreigners, who are on average younger than Luxembourgish natives.
6,690 children were born in Luxembourg last year. The rate of foreign children increased by 4.3% compared to 2020 while the rate for Luxembourgish children only went up by 2.9% in the same time period.
4,489 people passed away in 2021. The mortality rate thus declined by 2.6% within a year to reach pre-pandemic levels. As the Luxembourgish population is older, it recorded two thirds of the deaths. Life expectancy has remained more or less unchanged at 84.4 years for women and 80.3 years for men.
The majority of people who move to Luxembourg come from Portugal, followed by France and Italy. The rest of the top ten are Spain, India, Romania, Syria, Brazil, Germany, and Greece. At the beginning of the year, there were already 1,075 Ukrainians living in the Grand Duchy, a number which has however significantly risen since the beginning of the Russian invasion.