Demographics
Lucerne has a population (as of December 2011) of 381,966. As of 2010, 9.4% of the population are resident foreign nationals. Over the last 10 years (2000–2010) the population has changed at a rate of -0.4%. Migration accounted for -1.2%, while births and deaths accounted for 1.3%.
Most of the population (as of 2000) speaks German (311,543 or 88.9%) as their first language, Serbo-Croatian is the second most common (7,401 or 2.1%) and Italian is the third (6,801 or 1.9%). There are 2,053 people who speak French and 388 people who speak Romansh.
Of the population in the canton, 115,233 or about 32.9% were born in Lucerne and lived there in 2000. There were 101,980 or 29.1% who were born in the same canton, while 66,486 or 19.0% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 55,314 or 15.8% were born outside of Switzerland. As of 2000, children and teenagers (0–19 years old) make up 25% of the population, while adults (20–64 years old) make up 58.6% and seniors (over 64 years old) make up 16.4%.
As of 2000, there were 158,345 people who were single and never married in the canton. There were 159,152 married individuals, 18,853 widows or widowers and 14,154 individuals who are divorced.
As of 2000, there were 13,430 private households in the canton, and an average of 2.5 persons per household. There were 47,012 households that consist of only one person and 12,952 households with five or more people. As of 2009, the construction rate of new housing units was 4.7 new units per 1000 residents.
As of 2003 the average price to rent an average apartment in Lucerne city was 1150.31 Swiss francs (CHF) per month (US$920, £520, €740 approx. exchange rate from 2003). The average rate for a one room apartment was 646.07 CHF (US$520, £290, €410), a two room apartment was about 879.64 CHF (US$700, £400, €560), a three room apartment was about 1033.60 CHF (US$830, £470, €660) and a six or more room apartment cost an average of 2032.38 CHF (US$1630, £910, €1300). The average apartment price in Lucerne was 103.1% of the national average of 1116 CHF. The vacancy rate for the canton, in 2010, was 0.77%.
The largest population centres are Lucerne, Emmen and Kriens.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
| Demographic history of the Canton of Luzern 1850–2000 | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | 1850 | 1880 | 1900 | 1950 | 1970 | 2000 | |||
| Population | 132,843 | 134,708 | 146,519 | 223,249 | 289,641 | 350,504 | |||
| Percent of Total Swiss Population | 5.6% | 4.8% | 4.4% | 4.7% | 4.6% | 4.8% | |||
| Language | |||||||||
| German | 134,155 | 143,337 | 216,647 | 263,310 | 311,543 | ||||
| Italian | 294 | 2,204 | 3,587 | 15,635 | 6,801 | ||||
| French | 302 | 747 | 2,150 | 2,015 | 2,053 | ||||
| Romansh | 5 | 64 | 338 | 525 | 388 | ||||
| Other | 50 | 167 | 527 | 8,156 | 29,719 | ||||
| Religion | |||||||||
| Catholic | 131,280 | 129,172 | 134,020 | 189,917 | 246,888 | 248,545 | |||
| Protestant | 1,563 | 5,419 | 12,085 | 30,396 | 38,639 | 42,926 | |||
| Christian Catholic | 1,129 | 741 | 471 | ||||||
| Other | 215 | 414 | 1,807 | 3,373 | 58,562 | ||||
| Other, Jewish | 152 | 319 | 497 | 563 | 399 | ||||
| Other, Islam | 372 | 13,227 | |||||||
| Other, None | 1,672 | 20,681 | |||||||
| Nationality | |||||||||
| Swiss | 132,252 | 132,583 | 140,176 | 216,600 | 259,498 | 294,709 | |||
| Foreign | 591 | 2,223 | 6,343 | 6,649 | 30,143 | 55,795 | |||
| Source: | |||||||||
| Notes Read more about this topic: Canton Of Lucerne | |||||||||