Nearly 289,000 people residing within the Grand Duchy lack Luxembourgish nationality

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Luxembourg has broken the 600,000-inhabitant barrier, according to the country's official statistics bureau.

Statec said more than 602,000 people, as at 1 January 2018, were living within the Grand Duchy.

Graphic: Statec

Over the course of 2017, the country's population grew by nearly 11,340, including net migration of 10,548.

Using figures from the National Register of Physical Persons, Statec found that foreigners represent 48% of the population – meaning nearly 289,000 people residing within the Grand Duchy lack Luxembourgish nationality.

Foreign residents

On average, Luxembourg's foreign residents are younger than native Luxembourgers.

In the 30-to-49-year age bracket, foreigners outnumber Luxembourgers.

French immigrants have overtaken Portuguese arrivals since 2014 and represented the biggest migration flow in 2017.

However, Portuguese immigrants still represent the largest percentage of foreigners in the country at 16% of the population, followed by the French at 7.6%.

Statec found that the number of births in Luxembourg increased by 2% to reach 6,174 in 2017 compared with the previous year, while the number of deaths increased by 7.5% to reach 4,263.

Marriages were on the up in 2017, having decreased in 2016, to reach 1,908.

Of these, 42 were same-sex couples after the country legalised gay marriage in 2015.

The rate of divorce decreased by 9.7% year on year.