Luxembourg’s population has grown from 385,000 to 626,000 between 1991 and 2021. Library picture: Paperjam

Luxembourg’s population has grown from 385,000 to 626,000 between 1991 and 2021. Library picture: Paperjam

The number of non-nationals living in Luxembourg more than doubled between 1991 and 2021--from 113,000 to 229,000--data released by national statistics office Statec on Thursday shows.

Statec on 16 September released the latest edition of its booklet, which compiles statistics on the country’s population, labour market, environment, economy and other indicators.

Foreigners at the start of this year made up 47.2% of the country’s population, down slightly from last year, when they accounted for 47.4% of inhabitants. However, back in 1991, only 29.4% of Luxembourg’s residents didn’t hold a local passport.

Portuguese nationals are the largest group of foreigners (94,300), followed by French (48,500), Italians (23,500), Belgians (19,600) and Germans (12,800).

The grand duchy’s total population has grown more than 65% in the last 30 years, from just under 385,000 residents to more than 626,000.

Population growth goes hand in hand with the growth of the labour market, as the number of people working in the grand duchy grew from 264,000 in 2000 to 474,300 in 2020, the latest data available in the report.

The number of cross-border workers more than doubled over the same period, from 88,100 to 210,400. National employment grew much slower, from 184,700 to 277,100.

While average monthly disposable income also rose, from €5,118 in 2010 to €6,475 nearly ten years later in 2019, so did the at-risk-of-poverty rate, from 14.5% to 17.5%.

The government remained the single-largest employer in Luxembourg with 31,049 staff, followed by the City of Luxembourg (4,333), and state-owned Post (4,620) and rail operator CFL (4,580). The biggest private sector employer is Cactus (4,460 employees).

The number of banks in the country dropped from 144 in 2010 to 128 last year, but the number of staff remained largely stable at 26,059 in 2020 compared to 26,255 ten years ago.

Elsewhere, the statistics show that the number of marriages was down--2,148 in 2000 compared to 1,803 last year. The number of divorces, however, was up from 1,030 to 1,447 over the same period of time.

Life expectancy at birth is 80.1 years of age for men and 84.6 for women. Women have their first child at an average age of 30.9 with a fertility rate of 1.37. There were 6,459 births in Luxembourg last year and 4,609 deaths.