Luxembourg at a glance

Settling in to a new country can be both difficult and time consuming, and you will often find the process more arduous than you might have initially expected – I most certainly did. As such it's important to have a clear (and realistic!) idea of what to expect before you make the move and – this is the boring part, so brace yourself – the administrative and bureaucratic requirements associated with moving.  I, for one, severely underestimated just how long it would take to get set up with all the local government instances upon my arrival to the Duchy..

So the bad news is that at some point you will have to familiarise yourself with, for instance, how to sort out your 'déclaration d'enregistrement d’un citoyen de l'union' (if moving here from within the Union). The good news is that I won’t be going into that much detail quite yet – after all, this article is aimed at those of you who have not yet decided whether a move to the Grand Duchy is a good fit.

Population

Given that Luxembourg is one of the smallest countries in Europe it should come as no surprise that its population is similarly tiny, albeit that the population of Luxembourg has grown by 81% since 1981.

As of 2023, 660,809 individuals call Luxembourg their home. And more specifically since 1 January of that same year, 50.4% of the population in Luxembourg was foreign-born, making Luxembourg the most cosmopolitan country in the EU.

Languages

Speaking the local language tends to be of rather fundamental importance when it comes to meeting people, integrating, and working in a new country. This is somewhat complicated in Luxembourg given that it is in the fairly unusual position of having not one, but three official administrative languages – Luxembourgish, French, and German.

The good news is that you will not need to speak all three of them, and you can in fact (largely) get by with just English if you find a job with no additional language requirements (which is rare – but I managed, so there's hope!). With that said, learning at least one of the three languages will be important for social and administrative reasons.

Which language to focus on first is a bit of a contentious issue in Luxembourg. The government has made it clear that they want to solidify the importance of the Luxembourgish language. While Luxembourgish is still spoken by nearly half of those who responded to the census - even experiencing a slight increase, rising from 265,731 to 275,361 - its actual prevalence dipped from 55.8% to 48.9%.

Portuguese emerged as the second most spoken language, surpassing French, English, and Italian, closely followed by German.

So what does this mean? For the time being, your best bet is probably French. It's spoken by a majority of the population, and will help you both on a social level, at work, and administratively. With that said, Luxembourg's large expat community is quite poorly integrated with native Luxembourgers, and language is a contributing factor. So let's say French first, but do learn Luxembourgish as well if you intend to stay.

..or you can do what I did, and enrol in Luxembourgish straight away while putting the (much more difficult) French classes on the backburner. It certainly made finding a job here far trickier, not least in communications, but on the plus side I can pronounce Schueberfouer with confidence.

Income and cost of living

Luxembourg boasts high average salaries and excellent quality of life, which of course explains why so many people are drawn here – assuming it wasn't the average of 20 rainy days per month between November and January that did the trick. However, higher salaries and a growing population also mean that certain aspects of life are far more expensive here than they may be elsewhere.

According to data from Statec, the national statistics institute, the average gross monthly salary in Luxembourg as of September 2023 for skilled workers was €3,085.11 and €2,570.93 for unskilled workers. What you can expect to earn will vary considerably depending on your qualifications and experience, and the industry within which you find work.

However, when it comes to housing, property prices tend to be on the higher end of the scale. In fact, in 2021, average housing costs in the Grand Duchy were a whopping 83% higher than the EU average, coming in second only to Ireland. Earlier this year, the majority of Luxembourg residents said the ongoing housing crisis is their main concern, according to a Politmonitor survey.

Soaring property prices have rendered the market largely inaccessible to many residents, while rising interest rates over the past few years have also impacted Luxembourg, despite a slight drop in prices in 2023. In addition, a struggling construction sector and lengthy administrative procedures have resulted in stagnation when it comes to building new homes, leading to additional pressures on the rental market as well as for would-be buyers. Although the Luxembourg government is developing strategies to address these issues, they are unlikely to be resolved swiftly.

At a glance

In summary, Luxembourg is a small but highly diverse country. Given the size of the population, it's probably not the place for you if you require an active nightlife scene to be happy (in fact, younger expats often express frustration over how quiet the city is). Pay is generally very competitive on an international scale, but housing and social security are quite expensive.

It's a great place for settling down into a more quiet lifestyle, and is ideally located for anyone who wants to explore nearby countries such as France, Germany, Belgium or the Netherlands, all of which are easily accessed by car or public transport.

Great for: polyglots, diversity, career, calm, quality of life

Less good for: party animals, high rent, big city folk