Luxembourg Population, People, Languages and Religions

By | January 21, 2022

Luxembourg Country Overview

Where is Luxembourg located? Located in Western Europe, the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg is a parliamentary monarchy. It is one of the 3 states that make up the Benelux. The time zone map shows that Luxembourg is located in a world time zone called “Central European Time” (CET) where there is a standard deviation of one hour from Coordinated Universal Time. Clocks in Luxembourg are already one hour later than universal time (UTC+1). In summer, daylight saving time is put forward one hour.

Bordering Countries of Luxembourg

According to abbreviationfinder, Luxembourg is a small country bordered by three larger countries: France, Belgium, and Germany. All three of these nations have had a significant influence on the history, culture, and language of Luxembourg. To the north and east of Luxembourg lies Germany, which has been an important trading partner for the country since it regained its independence in 1815. The two countries share many cultural similarities due to both being German-speaking nations, and there is frequent cross-border traffic between them for both business and leisure purposes.

To the south and west of Luxembourg lies France, with which it shares a long border stretching for over 100 kilometers. This border has been in existence since the Treaty of Paris in 1815 when Luxembourg was granted its independence from the Netherlands. French culture has had a major influence on Luxembourgish society; many Luxembourgers speak French as their second language while French cuisine is also popular in the country. There is also considerable cross-border trade between France and Luxembourg; many French companies have branches in Luxembourg due to its favorable tax laws for foreign investors while it is estimated that around half of all imports into Luxembourg come from France.

Belgium borders Luxembourg to the northwest; this border dates back to 1839 when Belgium became an independent nation after separating from The Netherlands. Although Belgian culture has had less influence on Luxembourg compared to Germany or France due to linguistic differences, there are still strong ties between the two countries with frequent cross-border travel for both business and leisure purposes as well as considerable bilateral trade flows particularly in agricultural products such as grains, dairy products, meat etc.. Both countries are also members of various international organizations such as the European Union (EU), NATO, OECD etc., thus further strengthening their relationship.

Luxembourg National Flag

Population Distribution

As of 2023, the latest population of Luxembourg is 628,381, based on our calculation of the current data from UN (United Nations).

Total population 628,381
Population growth rate 1.80%
Birth rate 11.50 births per 1,000 people
Life expectancy
Overall 79.88 years
Men 76.64 years
Women 83.33 years
Age structure
0-14 years 16.74%
15-64 years 68.14%
65 years and above 15.11%
Median age 39.20 years
Gender ratio (Male to Female) 0.97
Population density 242.99 residents per km²
Urbanization 91.90%
Ethnicities
54.1% Luxembourgers; Proportion of foreigners in 2015: 45.9%
Religions
Catholics (Roman Catholic) 87% Protestants, Jews and Muslims 13% (2000)
Human Development Index (HDI) 0.909
HDI ranking 21st out of 194

People in Luxembourg

626,000 people live in Luxembourg. A fifth of them live in Luxembourg City alone. This is also the only major city in the country. There are, however, a few other cities and towns. The largest are in the south-west of the country, where most of the industry is based. They are Esch on the Alzette, Differdingen and Dudelange. Overall, 90 percent of the population live in a city, even if these are often more of small towns.

There is a high proportion of foreigners in Luxembourg. It is around 47 percent. Portuguese, French, Italians and Belgians make up the largest groups. People from a total of 160 countries live in Luxembourg City.

44 percent of the working population are cross-border commuters. So you live in France, Belgium or Germany and commute to Luxembourg to work.

Languages in Luxembourg

Luxembourg has three official languages: Luxembourgish, German and French.

70 percent of the population speak Luxembourgish as their mother tongue. Luxembourgish is a Moselle-Franconian dialect, but is treated as a national language. It is mainly used orally, that is, when speaking to one another, but also on television and radio. German is used more in newspapers, i.e. standard German.

Luxembourgish has the ë as a special letter. This is spoken like a mixture of an e and an ö. The vocabulary is heavily influenced by French. So called truck Camion and refrigerator Frigo. Sometimes there are compound words like Haaptplat: The first part is of German origin (main), the second is French (plat = court).

At school, too, lessons are first taught in Luxembourgish, then in German. French is then used in higher schools. However, French is widely spoken in shops, restaurants or banks because many of the people who work here are French.

Since Portuguese are the largest group of immigrants, Portuguese is also spoken in the country.

Religions in Luxembourg

69 percent of the population belong to the Catholic Church. 4 percent of the population are evangelical. A quarter of all residents do not belong to any church.