Some 192,121 non-residents (out of a total workforce of 422,010) were recorded as working in Luxembourg during the second quarter of 2018, a figure which has doubled over recent decades, Liser reports in a new study published on 19 November.

“Effectively, while cross-border workers represented just 26% of the workforce on 31 March 1994, the proportion rose to 46% 24 years later,” report author Kristell Leduc writes.

The fastest grow years were recorded between 1994 and 2003 when the number of cross-border workers more than doubled. From 2003 to 2007, they rose at a rate of 26% but stabilised following the 2008 financial crisis, to an annual growth rate of 1-3%.

The aging native population has certainly played a factor in bringing the proportion of cross-border workers ever closer to 50% of the total labour market.

Having a steady supply of younger workers has meant that the proportion of Luxembourgers in the nation’s workforce fell from 46% in 1994 to 27% in 2018. Combined with the foreign resident population, 54% of the workforce is composed of people living in the country.