Luxembourg

Luxembourg is a small country landlocked between Belgium, Germany and France. The population of Luxembourg is 511,000 and this is expected to reach 625,000 by 2030. Meanwhile the proportion of people over 65 is expected to increase from 20% to 30% over the same period. The official languages are French and German, and the dominant religion is Catholic. The official currency is the Euro. The standard rate of VAT is 15%.

Luxembourg has a GDP per capita of €79,500, compared to the EU average of €24,400 in 2010. According to the OECD, the Luxembourg economy grew by 2% in 2011, and is expected to grow by 0.4% in 2012 and by 2.2% in 2013 (compared to the Eurozone average growth of 1.6%, 0.2% and 1.4% respectively). The inflation rate was 3.4% in 2011, compared to 3% in the EU. The unemployment rate was 5%, compared to 9.8% in the EU as a whole in 2011.

People from Luxembourg are quite reserved and formal in business settings, which is different to their behaviour in other contexts. Third party recommendations are preferred, although not necessary. Punctuality is very important and there is little small talk and decisions tend to be made slowly and in private.