Despite ranking among the world’s top ten for prosperity and leading globally in healthcare, Luxembourg faces mounting challenges in youth unemployment and material wellbeing.
Luxembourg continues to shine on the global stage, retaining a place in the top ten of the Global Retirement Index from Natixis. The country maintains its number one position in health with an impressive 94% score and climbs to sixth in quality of life thanks to gains in biodiversity, environmental factors, and water management. By global standards, Luxembourg remains a model of prosperity and stability.
Yet beneath the strong headline numbers, cracks are emerging. Luxembourg loses ground in Finances, where it drops out of the top ten after a three-percentage-point score decline pushes it down six places to 14th.
The report says that this is largely due to bank non-performing loans and tax pressure, which see score declines of eight percentage points and six percentage points, respectively. Luxembourg returns a very mixed set of results in this sub-index. At one end of the scale, it languishes near the bottom in the tax pressure (36th) and interest rate (35th) indicators. But at the other end, it achieves top five finishes in government indebtedness (third) and governance (fourth). And it breaks into the top ten for inflation after a 12-percentage-point score increase propels it 13 places up the rankings. This reflects a wider trend of cooling inflation across the euro area.
Material well-being decline
The nation has also slipped three places overall, with its lowest-ever ranking in material well-being—down six places to 23rd.
“The chief culprit is the unemployment index, where the country ranks 31st after seeing its score tumble 14 percentage points to 40%,” says Nataxis IM Head of Belgium and Luxembourg Sebastien Sallee, adding: “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.”
In the unemployed index, Luxembourg now sits at 31st.
For a country long associated with financial strength and high living standards, the message is clear: Luxembourg’s future resilience depends not only on sustaining its healthcare excellence and environmental progress, but also on tackling the generational divide that threatens to undermine its prosperity.
Retirement Security in 2025: An Elusive Goal
For many investors, retirement feels out of reach—according to the report, 46% of investors now say it will take a miracle.
- Inflation is eroding savings, with three in four putting away less and over a third saying it’s “killing” their retirement dreams.
- Responsibility is shifting to individuals: 78% acknowledge funding retirement largely falls on their shoulders, yet many admit they are underprepared.
- Pensions under pressure, as debt and demographics fuel fears of government benefit cuts.
- Aging populations are straining systems, with dependency ratios set to nearly double by 2050 in OECD countries.
In 2025, inflation, debt, and demographics converge to make retirement security harder than ever, regardless of a country’s ranking.
How Luxembourg compares to other countries
Norway takes top spot in 2025, having featured in the top 3 since 2012. Its leading position is driven by strong performance in income inequality and unemployment indicators.
Ireland rises two places to 2nd in the GRI rankings, its strongest performance to date, having recorded gains in every sub-index. The most marked improvement comes in the unemployment indicator, as economic growth continues to fuel a strong labour market.
Germany is the only large, developed country within the top 10, ranking 8th, led by strong performance in Health and Quality of Life.
France drops out of the top 25 altogether, slipping three places to 27th with an overall score of 65%.
The United Kingdom holds steady in 14th place, though its overall score fell by two points due to losses in Material Wellbeing and Finances in Retirement.
About the report
The GRI report, which examines what it takes to enjoy a healthy and secure retirement, was created in collaboration with Core Data Research. It assesses factors such as healthcare access and cost, climate, governance, and overall population well-being. Rankings are based on 18 performance measures across the sub-categories of Finances in Retirement, Material Wellbeing, Health, and Quality of Life, all scored from 0% to 100%.
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