Luxembourg stands as one of the world’s leading financial hubs, renowned for its banking, investment funds, and insurance sectors. Boasting one of the highest GDP per capita globally, it attracts a wealth of skilled labour, offering a favourable business climate, and a strategic European location.
But what do leading rankings and indices say about how Luxembourg performs economically, its country brand strength and reputation?
Let’s take a closer look at:
- Luxembourg’s soft power and country brand strength
- Its appeal to skilled labour, investors and visitors
- The country’s global contribution to peace and well-being
- How well it fares in terms of happiness and sustainability
Soft power and country brand strength
In the Global Soft Power Index 2024 by Brand Finance, Luxembourg secures the 30th spot, behind India (29th) and Ireland (28th). Its score has grown by +3.70 improving its position from 32nd place in last year’s index.
In the U.S. News Best Countries 2023 ranking, Luxembourg secured 24th position behind Ireland (23rd) and Austria (22nd) and ahead of Portugal (25th) and Qatar (26th). Notably, it excels in the area of openness for business (2nd), quality of life (16th), and social purpose (15th).
Is Luxembourg a “good” country?
In the Caf World Giving Index 2023, Luxembourg ranked 64th, trailing behind Nepal (63rd) and Cameroon (52nd). It performs admirably in the subfactor of helping a stranger, with 69% of the adult population partaking in such activity. The country was not previously ranked in the 2022 and 2021 Indexes.
In the Good Country Index, Luxembourg currently holds 12th overall position, dropping by one position since 2022. It is admirably ranked 3rd in World Order in 2023, climbing from 15th place in 2022.
According to the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) Democracy Index 2023, Luxembourg ranked in the light blue zone (8-9 range) with a 8.81 out of 10. This is similar to all neighbouring countries: Germany (8.80), France (8.07), and Belgium (7.64).
The 2022 Corruption Perception Index ranks Luxembourg 10th, tying with Ireland (10th). Its score has dropped by four points since 2021.
The Sustainable Development Report 2023 ranks Luxembourg 33rd. The Report highlights that it still faces several major challenges in the areas of responsible consumption and production, climate action, life on land, and partnerships for the goals.
Talent attraction and competitiveness
The World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Index 2019 edition placed Luxembourg at 18th position among 141 countries. However, it’s important to note that an updated version of this report hasn’t been released in the past five years, and rankings may have shifted since then.
Luxembourg, classified as a high-income country within the Europe regional group, currently holds the 11th overall position and 8th regional position in the Global Talent Competitiveness Index 2023. Notably, it ranks high in all pillars, however the best one is the Attract pillar (1st), while the Grow pillar presents the country’s biggest challenge, where it ranked 22nd.
In terms of education excellence, Luxembourg does not have any university within the top 100 worldwide, according to the World University Rankings 2024. However, the University of Luxembourg ranked 25th in the Young University Ranking 2023.
Luxembourg’s appeal to investors, talent, travel
The Expat Insider 2023 notes Luxembourg ranks 19th, just behind Kenya, and ahead of Australia (20th). The country performs well in Safety and Security, Salary and Job Security, Career Prospects, Healthcare, and Travel and Transit – making the country a great place to pursue a career in with extraordinary safety, healthcare and easy transportation.
However, the country is also experiencing ‘weaker’ aspects such as Leisure options (51st), Local friendliness (41st), Finding friends (37th), Personal finances (35th) or Housing (50th). These factors present a challenge for Luxembourg to further attract potential residents.
The Bloom Consulting biannual Country Brand Ranking Trade Edition 2022-2023 assesses investment-related variables, emphasising perceptions of a country’s trade-specific brand and evaluating branding performance. Regionally, Luxembourg ranks 14th, surpassing Finland (15th) and behind Switzerland (13th). Worldwide, Luxembourg ranks 27th.
In addition, the Bloom Consulting Country Brand Ranking Tourism Edition 2022-2023 places Luxembourg takes the 23rd position in the Europe Region, climbing one position since last year’s ranking. It ranks behind Malta (22nd) and Belgium (21st).
In the IMD 2023 World Competitiveness Ranking, Luxembourg secured the 20th position, dropping seven positions since 2022. Currently, it sits just behind Australia (19th) and the Czech Republic (18th) while surpassing China (21st) and Germany (22nd). Regarding specific characteristics, Luxembourg experienced a major shift in economic performance in 2023 ranking at 38th position dropping from the 1st position in 2022.
How happy are people living in Luxembourg?
The World Happiness Report 2023, which displays the Ranking of Happiness based on a three-year-average 2021–2023, ranks Luxembourg 8th, a slight improvement from the 9th position in 2023. Luxembourg ranked 6th for happiness amongst youth (age below 30). Moreover, Luxembourg ranked 12th for happiness of residents who are 60 and over.
Environmental performance
How does Luxembourg perform in rankings measuring environmental sustainability?
The 2022 edition of the Environmental Performance Index (EPI) ranks Luxembourg 6th. The EPI analyses the performance of 180 countries, scoring and ranking these countries on their environmental performance using the most recent year of data available, as well as providing calculable changes in scores over the previous decade. Luxembourg has experienced a positive change in score in the past 10 years.
Last updated in April 2024. More country profiles here.
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