Harsh reality about Luxembourg

10 comments

1. What metrics do they use, you can’t just say stuff like that.

2. Idiotic – Indonesia is cheap compared to Luxembourg or New Zealand? No shit. How’s the wine list? Can I recharge my electric Porsche while I shop for Laboutins?

   61% of expats living in Luxembourg say they’re satisfied with their financial situation, yet many expats described the cost of living in the Grand Duchy as “almost unbearable”. Many is not most as demonstrated by the figures.

3. I have yet to find this “extremely high costs of living”.

   I moved to the Netherlands and almost everything besides housing is more expensive than in Lux. Gas? Way more expensive. Food at the grocery store? Same price but no lunch vouchers. Taxes? Higher. Cars? Almost double the price. Pension? Much lower than in Lux. Public transport? Very expensive.

4. If we read the original post (Internations website), we can see that the number of respondents is probably too low. Globally, we had about 12000, in Germany around 100.

   I agree that the cost of housing is truly expensive and may be an obstacle for a lot of expats. However, with such a small number of respondents, I think the inquiry’s conclusion is, at least, debatable, if not wrong.

5. Yes, Luxembourg is quite expensive (mostly housing), however, I fundamentally disagree with the article’s conclusions.

   They say that the high cost of living “makes it difficult to settle in the country”, but consider this. Living in Luxembourg, you can apply for citizenship after 20 years of residence. But this can be reduced to as little as 5 years with *contrat d’accueil et d’intégration*. Even without citizenship, it is possible to register to vote after 5 years of residence. Meanwhile, in the UAE (ranked 6th vs. 48th for Lux), it is pretty much impossible to become a naturalized citizen. You can live there for 50 years and you will always be a foreigner. I’d argue that’s a much bigger barrier to settling in a country than costs.

   Furthermore, Luxembourg doesn’t have the severe misalignment of cultural values that you might find in other countries. For example, no one is jailed in Luxembourg for making out in the back seat of a taxi or jailed for getting pregnant outside of marriage (both happened multiple times when I was in Dubai). Luxembourg is also much safer and better run than, for example Mexico, which is ranked 1st (???). We can talk about Gare being dangerous all day, but I’d take Gare every time over cartel country. Not to mention corruption or the efficiency of public services.

   The choice of countries to be ranked is also quite bizarre. Why is Switzerland missing, with 25% of the country being resident foreigners? Why is Indonesia on there but not Malaysia? I have heard of Malaysia as a bigger destination for expats since it’s the wealthiest and best run Southeast Asian outside of Singapore. Why Italy and Spain but not the other big western European countries? There are plenty of expats in France and Germany.

   Just a weird ranking overall that should probably be disregarded.

6. If you’re looking to settle in a country, you’re freaking immigrant, not an “expat”. So sick of this.

7. I doubt that “expats described the cost of living in the Grand Duchy as “almost unbearable”. “
   Expat usually means top executive manager.

   I think, like @andreif mentioned few days ago, the article is a bad translation or the author uses “expat” instead of “immigramt”.
   In this logic, yes, Mexic is cheaper than Luxembourg.

8. I’ve lived both in the UAE and now in Luxembourg. Luxembourg vastly outperforms the UAE in quality of life. Yes, it is expensive. But so is trying to live in the UAE on anything above poverty levels of accommodation.

9. I can see how being an expat here must be painful, as expats often don’t get competitive salaries from the parent companies.

   I think many people here confuse expats with immigrants – the latter is employed with a contract in Luxembourg usually. In that case, the cost of living is not that atrocious.

10. Why all the whining ? Some people like luxembourgs others don’t .

    If someone finds Luxembourg expensive , it’s their prerogative thinking so.

    Something is fundamentally wrong though when you earn a six figure salary and yet cannot get a loan for a modest flat in the city… and this is what happens in Luxembourg . I know Luxembourgers that have to live in France since they can’t afford housing here.

    Other than that, my food budget is mainly veggie food and alcohol … gym membership and petrol. Luxembourg is way more affordable than London or even Athens for my specific lifestyle (leaving housing apart).