Originating from the European Union, but not necessarily a native of Luxembourg, you live in Luxembourg and have studied for a long time before becoming a civil servant. You live with your spouse who is also in paid employment and have decided not to have children. You aren’t any longer very young, you are already in the sixtieth year of your life and you are at the pinnacle of your professional career.

Can you recognize yourself in this description? This article is about you. You meet the criteria to be a member of the bracket of the population with the highest income.

Usually we read studies about the poorest people. This time the CEPS (Centre for Population, Poverty and Public Policy Studies) has decided to undertake a survey on high-income people in Luxembourg. Unable to rely on a definition of high-income people, the survey studies the 10% of the population in Luxembourg with the highest income level.

Firstly, wages represent 83% of the income of the richest people, followed by transfer payments from the Social Security (11%), return on investment (5%) and private transfers (1%).

Consequently, while the high-income people get nearly 28% of all the wages of the population and 45% of all the return on investment, they pay at the same time 32% of the tax and social security deductions.

It is not easy to draw up a completely correct profile of the high-income people. However, it is possible to derive “reliable trends” from available data.

The high-income people are more qualified, as 60% of them have continued studying after secondary school, for 20% of the rest of the population.

Regarding their socio-professional status, 35% of them are officials of international organisations, 20% are national civil servants, 16% are self-employed workers and finally 14% are employees of the private sector.

The Luxembourgers are not the most represented in this bracket of the population. The citizens of the European Union, apart from the Portuguese and the Italians, are the most numerous high-income people.

Another trend: 20% of dual-income couples without children belong to the high-income group.

Finally, high-income people prefer to live around the capital city in the districts of Luxembourg and Capellen where 60% of them live, against 30% of the rest of the population. Unlike the district of Esch-sur-Alzette with only a few of them, while 34% of the people live there.

At the European level, the residents of Luxembourg cannot complain. Luxembourg enjoys the highest wealth, followed by the United Kingdom.

Sophie Sellier
English version: Robert Mouris

Source: “Coup de projecteur sur les hauts revenus au Luxembourg” (“The high-income people in Luxembourg under the spotlight”), CEPS, March 2008.