Europe
To which language should you translate to localize in Luxembourg?
What we know from our community
The language is of the Luxembourgish people is Luxembourgish. But the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg has three official languages: German, French and Luxembourgish. As Luxembourgish has a maximum of some 285.000 native speakers, resources in the language like books, newspapers, magazines, television, internet etc. are limited. Since most Luxembourgers also speak Standard German, French and English, there is strong competition with these languages, which both have large language resources. Because of the many frontier workers, who come every day to Luxembourg for work, and the many expats who live and work in the country, the communication is often done in another common language, to be more efficient, what isn’t benefitting for Luxembourgish. That’s why, the use of Luxembourgish remains limited and that’s why we have to encourage the use of written and spoken Luxembourgish. The written press in Luxembourg is mainly in German, French or English, and only two main radio sites have their websites in Luxembourgish. There are several distinct dialect forms of Luxembourgish including Areler (from Arlon, Belgium), Eechternoacher (Echternach), Dikrecher (Diekirch), Kliärrwer (Clervaux), Miseler (Moselle), Stater (Luxembourg), Veiner (Vianden), Minetter (Southern Luxembourg) and Weelzer (Wiltz). Further small vocabulary differences may be seen even between small villages. The language has reached a gradual standardisation towards a “Standard Luxembourgish”, what people can learn in language courses. Luxembourgish is today more written than ever through social media comments and messages, but unfortunately only a minority does master the right orthography.
Luxembourgish
“D’Sprooch vun de Lëtzebuerger ass Lëtzebuergesch. Awer de Groussherzogtum Lëtzebuerg huet dräi offiziell Amtssproochen: Däitsch, Franséisch a Lëtzebuergesch. Well Lëtzebuergesch nëmmen e Maximum vun ongeféier 285.000 Mammesproochler huet, sinn d’Ressourcen an der Sprooch wéi Bicher, Zeitungen, Zäitschrëften, asw… limitéiert. Bal all Lëtzebuerger schwätzt och Héichdäitsch, Franséisch an Englesch an dofir gëtt et eng grouss Konkurrenz tëscht de Sproochen. Wéinst och de ville Grenzgänger, déi al Dag op Lëtzebuerg schaffe kommen an déi vill Auslänner, déi do liewen a schaffen, gëtt d’Kommunikatioun meeschtens an eng aner Sprooch verluecht, fir méi séier ze sinn, wat der Sprooch awer kee Gefale mécht. Ganz eleng dofir musse mir d’Benotze vu geschriwwenem a geschwate Lëtzebuergesch weider héichhalen. Dofir bleift d’Notze vun der Lëtzebuerger Sprooch limitéiert. Déi geschriwwe Press zu Lëtzebuerg ass haaptsächlech op Däitsch a Franséisch, oder esouguer op Englesch a just e puer Radiosenderen hunn hir Websäiten op Lëtzebuergesch. Et gi verschidden Dialekter am klenge Ländchen ewéi Areler, Eechternoacher, Dikrecher, Kliärrwer, Miseler, Stater, Veiner, Minetter a Weelzer. Da ginn et och kleng Wierderënnerscheeder tëscht klengen Dierfer. D’Sprooch huet awer e “Standard Lëtzebuergesch” entwéckelt, deen d’Leit a Sproochecourse léiere kënnen. Lëtzebuergesch gëtt haut och méi wéi jee geschriwwen, zemools an de soziale Medien, a Kommentarer an Noriichten, awer leider beherrschen déi mannst déi richteg Schreifweis.”
Tania Hoffmann, freelance writer, translator & language coach
LANGUAGE INSIGHT
Official language
Luxembourgish (64.4%), French (4.2%), German (2.3%).
Actual languages
Luxembourgish (64.4%), Portuguese (13%), Italian (4.6%), French (4.2%), German (2.3%), other (11.5%)
What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Luxembourg
(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)
- 32/150 localize by translating into French
- 25/150 localize by translating into both French and German
- 3/150 localize by translating into both French and Dutch
- 1/150 localizes by translating into Luxembourgish, French and German
- 1/150 localizes by translating into French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese
- 1/150 localizes by translating into French, German, Italian, Spanish and Simplified Chinese
- 1/150 localizes by translating into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Russian
- 1/150 localizes by translating into French, German, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Japanese, Russian, Bahasa Indonesia, Hungarian, Polish, Romanian, Turkish and Ukrainian
- 1/150 localizes by translating into Dutch
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3M
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ABB
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Accenture
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Adidas
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Adobe
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Airbnb
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Aldi
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Amazon
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American Airlines
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American Express
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Apple
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Audi
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Autodesk
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Avis
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Bayer
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BMW
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Booking.com
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Bosch
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British Airways
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Bumble
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Burberry
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BYD
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Canon
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Capgemini
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Cartier
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Caterpillar
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Chevrolet
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Cisco Systems
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Citibank
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Coca-Cola
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Costco
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Dell
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Deloitte
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Delta
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DHL
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Disney+
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Dyson
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eBay
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Eli Lilly
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Emirates
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Ernst & Young
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Facebook
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FedEx
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Ford
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Four Seasons
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Fujifilm
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GE
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Gillette
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GoDaddy
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Google
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Gucci
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Haier
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Heineken
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Hermès
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Hertz
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Hilton
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Hisense
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Hitachi
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Honda
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Hotels.com
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HP
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HP Enterprise
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HSBC
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Huawei
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Hyatt
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Hyundai
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IBM
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IKEA
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Intel
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InterContinental Hotels
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J&J
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Jack Daniel's
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Jehovah’s Witnesses
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John Deere
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Kellogg's
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Kia
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KPMG
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LOréal
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Land Rover
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LEGO
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Lenovo
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Lexus
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LG
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Louis Vuitton
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Lululemon
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LUSH
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Marriott
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MasterCard
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McDonald's
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Mercedes-Benz
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Merck
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Microsoft
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Mitsubishi Electric
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Nestlé
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Netflix
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Nike
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Nikon
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Nintendo
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Nio
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Nissan
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NIVEA
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Oracle
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Pampers
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Panasonic
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PayPal
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Pepsi
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Pfizer
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Philips
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Pitney Bowes
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Porsche
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Procter & Gamble
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PWC
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Revolut
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Rolex
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Royal Caribbean
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Salesforce
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Samsung
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Sanofi
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SAP
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Sephora
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Shopify
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Siemens
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Sony
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Spotify
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Starbucks
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Steelcase
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Stripe
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Subaru
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Tesla
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
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Tiffany
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Tinder
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Toshiba
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Toyota
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TripAdvisor
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Uber
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United Airlines
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UPS
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Visa
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Volkswagen
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Volvo Cars
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Vrbo
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Walmart
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Western Union
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Wikipedia
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Wise
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WordPress
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Workday
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Xerox
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Xiaomi (Mi)
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Zara
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Zoom
If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Introduction
Language
Official language
Luxembourgish (64.4%), French (4.2%), German (2.3%).
Actual language
Portuguese (13%), Italian (4.6%), other (11.5%)
T-index
0.051%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Languages in the workplace
French is the most common language in the workplace, corresponding to 78% of the population using the language at work. English follows with 51% and Luxembourgish ranks in third place with 48%.
Most studied languages
English, Italian, Spanish
English
Moderate proficiency (EF) – 16 of 111 countries/regions in the world- 14/35 position in Europe.
Demography
Capital: Luxembourg
Currency: Euro
Population: 640,06 m
Population density: 245/km2
Economy
GDP: 85.51 billion USD (2021)
GDP per capita: 133,590.1 USD (2021)
Exports: $15.1 billion (2020)
Statistics
Internet users: 99% penetration, 632.2 thousands Unemployment rate: 5.3% (2021)
Urbanisation: 91.67% (2020)
Literacy: 99.15 % (2020)
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numerals with comma as decimal separator, space or dot as thousands separator.
Date format: yyyy-mm-dd
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 00352
Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$22.4 billion (2020). Cars ($2.09B), Refined Petroleum ($1.07B), Packaged Medicaments ($554M), Scrap Iron ($532M), and Planes, Helicopters, and/or Spacecraft ($512M), importing mostly from Germany ($5.86B), Belgium ($5.48B), France ($2.17B), Netherlands ($1.3B), and China ($835M).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 99% have an account with a financial institution
• 70% have a credit card
• 76% make online purchases
Ease of doing business
It is easy to conduct business (rated 72.9 out of 100) ranked 33rd out of 34 OECD and high-income countries ranked 72nd out of 190 countries worldwide (2022, World Bank)
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 18th out of 39 European countries, 29th out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Exports
$15.5 billion (2020). Iron Blocks ($821M), Cars ($619M), Rubber Tires ($555M), Iron Sheet Piling ($400M), and Cellulose Fibers Paper ($366M), exporting mostly to Germany ($3.46B), France ($2.55B), Belgium ($1.78B), Netherlands ($943M), and Italy ($580M).
Main local online stores
Amazon.it, Apple.com, Zalando.it, Privalia.com, Esselungacasa.it, Shein.com, Unieuro.it, Eprice.it, Yoox.com, Amazon.com
Economic freedom
‘Moderately free’ (rated 65.4 out of 100) ranked 33rd amongst 45 countries in Europe ranked 57th worldwide out of 186 countries (2019, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal)
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service Imports (2020)
Source: OEC
Service Exports (2020)
Source: OEC
Most specialized products by RCA Index
Specialisation is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage, an index that takes the ratio between Luxembourg observed and expected exports in each product
Source: OEC
Leading payment methods in Luxembourg as of the 20th century
Source: Statista
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language
Luxembourgish, German, French
Information channels
Luxembourg exerts immense media clout and has a long tradition of operating radio and TV services for pan-European audiences, including those in France, Germany and the UK. Media group RTL is behind much of this activity. Its outlets have been a part of the broadcasting landscape in France and Germany for decades. Generations of British listeners grew up with Radio Luxembourg, which beamed pop music programmes into the UK. “The Great 208” is no more, but RTL is still a key player in media markets across Europe. Luxembourg’s media empire extends to the skies. It is home to Europe’s largest satellite operator, Societe Europeenne des Satellites (SES), which operates the Astra fleet. RTL and other privately-owned radios and TVs cater for domestic audiences. The constitution guarantees freedom of speech and of the press. Print media are privately owned and reflect diverse viewpoints.
The press
Letzebuerger Journal
Luxemburger Wort
Tageblatt
Television
RTL Tele Letzebuerg – RTL’s domestic network
Nordliicht TV – station for northern Luxembourg
Radio
RTL Radio Letzebuerg – RTL’s domestic network
Radio ARA – variety of music, some English-language programmes
EldoRadio – pop music
Honnert,7 (100.7) – public, cultural
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
99% penetration, 532.2 thousands
Share of web traffic by device
46.59% mobile phones, 50.32% computers (laptops and desktops), 3.06% tablet devices, others 0.03%
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
76.05 Mbps
Average speed of fixed Internet connection
91.52 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population: 134.8%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G): 94.6%
Most popular web search engines
Google (90.92%), Bing (4.35%), Duckduckgo (2.31%), Yandex (1.02%), Yahoo (0.64%), Ecosia (0.32%),
Most used social media
Facebook (68.1%), Instagram (8.2%), Pinterest (11.05%), Twitter (9.1%), YouTube (1.76%), Reddit (0.59%)
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
82 yrs (2020)
Health expenditure
5.37 % of GDP
Average age of the population
39.7 yrs
Graduates (tertiary education):
In Luxembourg, a master’s or equivalent degree is the commonest tertiary qualification: 22% of 25- 64 year-olds have a master’s degree; above the OECD average of 13%. In addition to first master’s programmes, students in Luxembourg are more likely to enrol in a second master’s. Among master’s and bachelor’s students in Luxembourg, 26% enrol in a master following a bachelor, double the OECD average and 15% enrol in second or further degree programmes, the highest rate among countries with available data, while the OECD average stands at 1%.
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Llibert Losada, Unsplash