More than 25% of Luxembourg lives abroad.
More and more Luxembourgers opt for a life outside the national borders. The number of Luxembourgers living abroad rose from 81,256 in 2019 to over 146,000 in 2024. This increase of around 80 percent in five years emerges from the annual activity report of the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs.
« The number of Luxembourg citizens abroad who can use consular services is constantly increasing, » emphasizes the ministry in its report. The increase was 8,936 people within one year, which corresponds to an increase of 6.5 percent.
At the same time, the number of Luxembourgers with residence in Luxembourg has also increased, although not quite as strong. It rose from 329,645 in 2019 to 359,561 in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of 9 percent in five years.
The goal is often the large region
Where is the Luxembourgers go? Almost a quarter moves to France. At the end of 2024, 34,169 citizens stated that they live in France – an increase of 1,227 compared to the previous year.
« I’m the only Luxembourg in Vanuatu »
The other neighboring countries of the large region are also very popular with the emigrants. 27,853 Luxembourgers live in Belgium (19.9 percent) and 21,448 Luxembourgers in Germany (14.65 percent). In 2024, however, more Luxemburger Germany (980 people) chose Belgium (641 people) for moving abroad.
Not only Europe is popular
Brazil is also among the top five of the countries in which most Luxembourgers live. The South American country is just ahead of Belgium, because 29,665 Luxemburger (20 percent of the citizens living abroad) stated that they live there in 2024. That is 2,033 more than in 2023. The development is primarily due to the fact that many Brazilian citizens have received the Luxembourg citizenship as part of a reintegration procedure. This procedure is open to people whose ancestors were born in the Grand Duchy.
With 17,380 Luxembourg residents, the United States complete the top five most popular emigration goals. Within a year, 2,408 Luxembourgers have settled on the other side of the Atlantic. Other popular target countries for Luxembourgers are Switzerland (3,049 Luxemburger in 2024), Great Britain (2,184), Portugal (1,301), Austria (1,090) and Spain (1,009).
This article first appeared at Virgule. Translation and editing: Marvin pushing.
