Koen van Gelder
Team Lead E-commerce
E-commerce in Luxembourg - statistics & facts
Luxembourgish online shoppers profit from a perfect mix of advanced digitalization, solid intra-European relations, and above-average wealth compared to the greater Benelux and European regions. In a country that boasts a near-perfect internet penetration rate and the highest Gross Domestic Product per capita in the world, it comes as no surprise that the online retail market is booming. The Grand Duchy of Luxembourg, one of Europe’s smallest nations, currently has an e-commerce market revenue of over 1.1 billion U.S. dollars, and this figure is forecast to increase by over 35 percent until 2029.
Luxembourg presents an interesting case in the dynamic European e-commerce market. The small nation’s ideal geographical, digital, and political setting explains its high use of cross-border e-commerce, a channel that is often complicated by cultural and legal barriers. For the consumer, this means that all the world’s online storefronts are within reach. On the other hand, local businesses still have some catching up to do if they want to keep Luxembourgish spending within the nation’s borders.
An evolved market on a smaller scale
Given its modest size and population, Luxembourg is a relatively small player in the grander European borderless market. The e-commerce market revenue is one of the smallest on the continent, and Luxembourg contains less than 400,000 active online shoppers. Meanwhile, these 400,000 consumers do spend a lot more money per capita than online shoppers in neighboring countries. The average revenue per user in the e-commerce market in Luxembourg is nearing the 3,000 U.S. dollar mark as of 2024. In contrast, German and French shoppers are estimated to spend just 2,000 U.S. dollars on online shopping in the same year.Cross-border dominates in the Grand Duchy
With Luxembourgish online shoppers outspending virtually all their European neighbors, one might expect that local businesses are profiting from this spending frenzy. However, in the current e-commerce landscape, foreign players are dominating the small-yet-profitable Lëtzebuergesch market. In fact, the country leads the European ranking of cross-border e-commerce spending by a large margin, with 80 percent of Luxembourgish online spending moving across borders. In 2023, consumers spent an overwhelming majority of their online budget on German e-commerce stores, followed by e-tailers of French and Chinese origin. The highly international character of e-commerce spending in the country goes together with a low adoption of e-commerce channels by local businesses. Just over 11 percent of Luxembourgish enterprises offer online sales channels. It is important to note here that Amazon’s European headquarters are in Luxembourg, but they do not have a Luxembourgish storefront.Luxembourg presents an interesting case in the dynamic European e-commerce market. The small nation’s ideal geographical, digital, and political setting explains its high use of cross-border e-commerce, a channel that is often complicated by cultural and legal barriers. For the consumer, this means that all the world’s online storefronts are within reach. On the other hand, local businesses still have some catching up to do if they want to keep Luxembourgish spending within the nation’s borders.
