Credit: STATEC

As of 1 January 2020, the population of Luxembourg had reached 626,108 people, according to a new report by STATEC.

During the year 2019, Luxembourg's population increased by 12,214 people, bringing the total number of residents to 626,108. According to STATEC, this continuous population growth has resulted mainly from immigration. Net migration (the difference between emigration and immigration) in 2019 was 11,075 people (26,668 arrivals versus 15,593 departures).

More specifically, 47% of Luxembourg residents did not have the nationality as of January 2020. Since 2014, the number of French residents (14.8% of total net immigration in 2019) has outnumbered that of Portuguese residents (8.9%) in Luxembourg. There were even more Italians (9.2%) than Portuguese living in the Grand Duchy in 2019. Regarding Luxembourg's other neighbouring countries, Belgians made up 4.0% of net immigration whilst Germans made up 2.3%.

The number of people adopting the Luxembourg nationality through naturalisation dropped by 18.6% between 2018 and 2019, from 6,950 to 5,657. Nevertheless, the number of Luxembourg nationals residing in the Grand Duchy remained stable at 52.6% (as of 1 January 2020).

The STATEC report also illustrated other demographics of the Luxembourg population. For instance, it showed the average age of inhabitants to be 40.3 years old for women and 38.8 years old for men; the average age of non-Luxembourg nationals (37.6 for women, 37.4 for men) residing in the Grand Duchy was lower than that of Luxembourg nationals (42.6 for women, 40.1 for men).

The birth rate in Luxembourg fell slightly in 2019, from 6,274 births in 2018 to 6,230 in 2019. However, the death rate also experienced a decrease of 0.8%, with 4,283 deaths recorded in 2019 (compared to 4,318 in 2018). The natural balance (the difference between the number of births and the number of deaths) was thus 1,947.

Moreover, the number of marriages in the Grand Duchy increased by 13% over the past year, from 1,896 in 2018 to 2,143 in 2019. This figure includes 59 same-sex marriages (35 between two men, 24 between two women). Following the introduction of new divorce legislation in June 2018, the divorce rate rose significantly by 54.9% from 1,230 divorces in 2018 to 1,906 in 2019.