On Tuesday 9 September 2025, global financial services firm Natixis published the results of its Global Retirement Index (GRI), placing Luxembourg in the top ten but revealing it had dropped three places to ninth position.
According to Natixis Investment Managers, the Grand Duchy saw its overall score decline from 78% to 75% but retain pole position in the category of Health (94%). Luxembourg did improve in its Quality of Life rating but slid down the rankings in Material Well-being and Finances.
Natixis highlighted that Luxembourg ranks in the top ten for all three indicators and climbed five spots in life expectancy to seventh after posting a four-percentage-point gain. Against this, the country slipped two places in health expenditure per capita and sees its score fall from 89% to 87% but nevertheless stays in the top ten (sixth). The firm noted that while Luxembourg enjoys high national health insurance coverage, access remains challenging for the unemployed and homeless.
In Material Well-being, an eight percentage point score decline pushed Luxembourg six places down the table to 23rd – its lowest sub-index ranking. Natixis attributed this fall to the unemployment index, where the country ranks 31st after seeing its score tumble fourteen percentage points to 40%. Luxembourg has one of the highest youth unemployment rates in the EU, with growing numbers of young people not in education or work and training programmes not geared to labour market needs. The country also slid four places down the income equality table to eighteenth following a score decline from 68% to 64% but remains in the top five of the income per capita rankings.
Luxembourg also lost ground in the Finances category, where it dropped out of the top ten after a three percentage point score decline pushed it down six places to fourteenth. Natixis stated this is largely due to bank non-performing loans and tax pressure, which saw score declines of eight percentage points and six percentage points, respectively.
Despite a static Quality of Life sub-index score (81%), Natixis recorded that Luxembourg climbed four places up the rankings to sixth. Gains in biodiversity and habitat, environmental factors, and water and sanitation offset decreases in air quality and happiness. The main bright spot is biodiversity, where Luxembourg ranked first. Luxembourg also achieved a perfect score in water and sanitation, where it breaks into the top five after moving up four places from 9th last year.
Overall, Norway claimed the top spot with an overall score of 83%, displacing last year’s leader, Switzerland (81%) which now comes in third behind Ireland (82%). Denmark makes the most notable top ten jump, climbing from ninth to fifth and Slovenia enters the top ten for the first time, while New Zealand falls just outside in twelfth place. For the first time in five years, two new countries have entered the top 25, The Slovak Republic (24th) and Cyprus (25th), displacing Japan and France that have continued to see their rankings decline over the past few years.
Among the overall top ten countries, eight secured top ten finishes in Material Well-being and Quality of Life. However, as inflation, rising debt and low interest rates continue to disrupt long-term outcomes, just three countries (Ireland, Switzerland, and Australia) finish in the top ten in Finances in Retirement.
“The findings of the index highlight the need for proactive planning on all fronts to secure the future for retirees. Around the world, governments are already taking steps to strengthen pension systems, expand choice, and better protect both current and future retirees. But retirement security is a shared responsibility: individuals, governments, financial institutions and employers all need to play their part,” said Sebastien Sallee, Head of Belgium and Luxembourg at Natixis IM.
He added: “Although Luxembourg drops three places, it remains in the top ten of best performing countries. The country retains its pole position in ‘Health’ and improves in ‘Quality of Life’ but slides down the rankings in ‘Material Well-being and Finances’. The main reason for this decline is a high unemployment rate, especially among young people.”
Created in collaboration with Core Data Research, Natixis said the GRI offers a comprehensive view of what it takes to enjoy a healthy and secure retirement. Beyond finances, it assesses factors such as healthcare access and cost, climate, governance and overall population well-being. Rankings are relative, based on eighteen performance measures across four sub-indices, Finances in Retirement, Material Well-being, Health and Quality of Life, scored from 0% to 100%, which together provided a full picture of the retirement environment in each country.
