That dollar amount results from a 15.8% increase from $13.5 billion five years earlier during 2020.
Year over year, Luxembourg’s revenues from its exports dropped by -4.3% compared to $16.3 billion in 2023.
Based on the average exchange rate for 2024, Luxembourg uses the euro which flatlined via a 0.02% gain against the US dollar from 2023 to 2024. The slightly stronger European Union currency made goods exported from Luxembourg paid for in modestly weaker US dollars relatively lesser expensive for international buyers starting from US currency.
Luxembourg’s Most Valuable Trade Partners
The latest available country-specific data shows that 80.3% of products exported from Luxembourg was bought by importers in: Germany (24.9% of Luxembourg’s total), France (15.4%), Belgium (13.1%), Netherlands (6.3%), Italy (4.6%), Spain (3.3%), United States of America (2.7%), Poland (2.6%), United Kingdom (2.3%), Austria (1.8%), Switzerland (1.62%) and mainland China (1.6%).
From a continental perspective, 86.2% of Luxembourg’s exports by value was delivered to other European countries while 6.8% was sold to importers in Asia. Luxembourg shipped another 4.3% worth of goods to buyers in North America.
Luxembourg is one of the four institutional seats of the European Union and is home to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Other EU member states bought 80.6% of total Luxembourg export sales.
Smaller percentages went to customers located in Africa (1.8%), Latin America excluding Mexico but including the Caribbean (0.7%) then Oceania led by Australia and New Zealand (0.2%).
Given Luxembourg’s population of 672,000 people, its total $15.6 billion in 2024 exports translates to roughly $23,300 for every resident in the Western European country. That dollar metric lags the average $26,125 per capita one year earlier for 2023.
Luxembourg’s Top 10 Exports
The following export product groups represent the highest dollar value in Luxembourg global shipments during 2024. Also shown is the percentage share each export category represents in terms of overall exports from Luxembourg.
- Machinery including computers: US$2 billion (12.9% of total exports)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $1.61 billion (10.3%)
- Vehicles: $1.58 billion (10.1%)
- Iron, steel: $1.3 billion (8.4%)
- Articles of iron or steel: $954.5 million (6.1%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $771.9 million (4.9%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $736.8 million (4.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: $666.6 million (4.3%)
- Aluminum: $531.2 million (3.4%)
- Paper, paper items: $433.1 million (2.8%)
Luxembourg’s top 10 exports generated over two-thirds (67.9%) of the overall value of total shipments from Luxembourg.
Dairy, eggs and honey represent the fastest grower among the top 10 export categories, up by 2.7% from 2023 to 2024.
The other gaining top product category was for Luxembourg’s exports of paper, both as materials and items made from paper, via a 1.5% upswing.
The leading decliner among Luxembourg’s top 10 export categories was electrical machinery and equipment, thanks to its -21.2% year-over-year drop.
The above listed product categories are at the two-digit Harmonized Tariff System (HTS) code level.
Drilling down to four-digit HTS codes, Luxembourg’s most valuable exported products are iron or non-alloy steel angles, shapes and sections (6.7% of the European country’s total), cars (5.2%), new rubber tires (4.4%), self-adhesive plastic in rolls (3.2%), iron or steel sheet piling (3.1%), coated or laminated non-woven materials (2.7%), cellulose fiber paper (2.5%), cheese or curd (also 2.5%), machines for making rubber or plastic items (2.2%), then trailers (also 2.2%).
Products Generating Luxembourg’s Best Trade Surpluses
The following types of Luxembourg product shipments represent positive net exports or a trade balance surplus. Investopedia defines net exports as the value of a country’s total exports minus the value of its total imports.
In a nutshell, net exports is the amount by which foreign spending on a home country’s goods or services exceeds or lags the home country’s spending on foreign goods or services.
- Articles of iron or steel: US$408.4 million (Up by 11% since 2023)
- Felt, yarn, twine, ropes, cables: $331.8 million (Up by 5.4%)
- Plastics, plastic articles: $201.1 million (Down by -24.6%)
- Coated/laminated textile fabric: $191.6 million (Down by -12.2%)
- Dairy, eggs, honey: $171.1 million (Up by 27%)
- Footwear: $158.9 million (Up by 41.5%)
- Iron, steel: $136 million (Down by -52.2%)
- Gems, precious metals: $116.6 million (Up by 35.5%)
- Rubber, rubber articles: $72.3 million (Down by -51.8%)
- Glass: $71.6 million (Up by 200.1%)
Luxembourg has notably positive net exports in the international trade of iron or steel either items made from iron and steel but also those metals as materials. In turn, these cashflows indicate Luxembourg’s strong competitive advantages under the iron or steel product category.
Products Causing Luxembourg’s Worst Trade Deficits
Luxembourg incurred an overall -US$9.27 billion trade deficit during 2024, increasing by 4.5% from -$8.87 billion in red ink one year earlier in 2023.
Below are exports from Luxembourg that result in negative net exports or product trade balance deficits. These negative net exports reveal product categories where foreign spending on home country Luxembourg’s goods trail Luxembourg importer spending on foreign products.
- Mineral fuels including oil: -US$2.8 billion (Down by -9.4% since 2023)
- Vehicles: -$2.1 billion (Down by -1.7%)
- Electrical machinery, equipment: -$690.5 million (Up by 2.1%)
- Pharmaceuticals: -$582.2 million (Up by 5.6%)
- Beverages, spirits, vinegar: -$532.1 million (Up by 20.3%)
- Furniture, bedding, lighting , signs, prefab buildings: -$350.3 million (Down by -2.8%)
- Aircraft, spacecraft: -$350.1 million (Up by 73.3%)
- Tobacco, manufactured substitutes: -$304.8 million (Up by 32.4%)
- Inorganic chemicals: -$240.1 million (Up by 26.8%)
- Optical, technical, medical apparatus: -$205.4 million (Up by 25.5%)
Luxembourg has a highly negative net exports and therefore a deep international trade deficit particularly for refined petroleum oils under the mineral fuels including oil category.
Luxembourg Export Companies
Seven corporations based in Luxembourg rank among Forbes Global 2000, including the bank Espirito Santo Financial. Below are the other major Luxembourg companies that Forbes included.
- ArcelorMittal (iron, steel)
- Millicom International (telecommunications)
- RTL Group (broadcasting, cable)
- SES (broadcasting, cable)
- Tenaris (oil services, equipment)
- Ternium (iron, steel)
Wikipedia also lists companies from Luxembourg, many of which are significant international trade players.
- Brasserie Nationale (brewery)
- Cargolux (cargo airliner)
- Ceratizit (hard metals)
- ROTAREX Group (medical equipment)
In macroeconomic terms, Luxembourg’s total exported goods represent 15.6% of its overall Gross Domestic Product for 2024 ($100.5 billion valued in Purchasing Power Parity US dollars). That 15.6% for exports to overall GDP in PPP for 2024 compares to 18.2% for 2023. Those percentages suggest a relatively decreasing reliance on products sold on international markets for Luxembourg’s total economic performance, albeit based on a short timeframe.
Please note that those metrics include a significant amount of re-exporting activity.
Another key indicator of a country’s economic performance is its unemployment rate. Luxembourg’s unemployment rate averaged 5.735% in 2024, up from an average 5.228% for 2023 according to International Monetary Fund statistics.
Luxembourg’s capital is Luxembourg City.
See also Luxembourg’s Top Trading Partners, Germany’s Top Trading Partners, France’s Top Trading Partners, Belgium’s Top Trading Partners and Top EU Export Countries
Research Sources:
Central Intelligence Agency, The World Factbook Europe: Luxembourg. Accessed on September 24, 2025
Forbes Global 2000 rankings, The World’s Biggest Public Companies. Accessed on September 24, 2025
International Monetary Fund, Exchange Rates selected indicators (Domestic Currency per U.S. dollar, period average). Accessed on September 24, 2025
International Monetary Fund, World Economic Outlook Database (GDP based on Purchasing Power Parity). Accessed on September 24, 2025
International Trade Centre, Trade Map. Accessed on September 24, 2025
Investopedia, Net Exports Definition. Accessed on September 24, 2025
Wikipedia, Gross domestic product. Accessed on September 24, 2025
Wikipedia, List of Companies of Luxembourg. Accessed on September 24, 2025
Wikipedia, Luxembourg. Accessed on September 24, 2025
Wikipedia, Purchasing power parity. Accessed on September 24, 2025