Last year, Luxemburg’s Gross Domestic Product expanded by 3½ percent – compared to an average of 1.7 percent in the European Union. The global financial crisis, nonetheless, will leave a lasting imprint on the Luxembourg economy. Global trends increase competition Even before the outbreak of the crisis in the summer of 2007 the worldwide scenery of international financial centers was in motion.
At first glance, however, the picture looked rather static. While the traditional financial centers in the industrialized world were prospering in an overall growing environment, and managed to defend their relative positions, emerging financial centers, particularly from Asia, were able to improve their competitiveness dramatically. It was therefore apparent that the top dogs would be facing increasing pressures to maintain their dominant positions.