Study: Almost half of Luxembourg’s salaried jobs done by cross-border workers

According to demographic data, the Grand Duchy’s population goes up by a third during working hours

According to data published last week by Statec, the national Luxembourgish statistical agency, in 2021 the number of cross border workers has increased compared to the previous year. Now, the agency says, nearly half of all salaried jobs in the Grand Duchy are occupied by people who commute cross-border on a daily basis.

Luxembourg’s daily demographic swing 

According to the data provided by Statec, 212,343 people cross the border for work in Luxembourg every day. Considering that the Grand Duchy currently has 458,210, cross-border workers account for 46.34% of all employed people. These numbers account for the fourth quarter of 2021 and also show an increase of 4.4% compared with the same period in 2020.

At the same time, they provide a glimpse into Luxembourg’s daily demographic swings, considering that the country’s population is just 645,397, according to 2021 data. This means that every day, it goes up by a third.

Furthermore, according to the data, only 121,077 (26.4%) of people with a Luxembourgish nationality have a salaried job, in addition to the more than 112,000 French, t50,000 German and around 50,000 Belgians cross-border workers filling out the Grand Duchy’s economy.

Luxembourg’s housing crisis

Due to the high real estate prices, many of the country’s residents have been moving across the border to neighbouring regions in France, Belgium and Germany. This accounts for around 70,000 people, who still commute to the Grand Duchy every day, prompting the government to launch a free public transport line in neighbouring France, to help convince people to ditch their cars.

According to government sources, this exodus is caused by the country’s affordable housing crisis, which in turn is linked to the fact that land ownership is incredibly centralised into the hands of a few. According to a government study, Luxembourg has enough land to build housing for all its residents, however, it is owned by 0.5% of the population.

At the same time, all those residents moving into neighbouring countries while retaining their Luxembourgish salaries are causing housing prices in France, Belgium and Germany to go up. According to a report by the Royal Federation of Belgian Notaries – Fednot, in a display of what can be described as cross border gentrification, prices in regions bordering the Grand Duchy have gone up by 21% in the past five years.