Iceland: Rebuilding Trust
Despite external investor caution, Iceland’s economy continues to rebuild.
Iceland GDP and Economic Data
Includes Iceland real Gross Domestic Product growth rate, with latest forecasts and historical data, GDP per capita, GDP composition and breakdown by sector.
Browse additional economic indicators and data sets, selected by Global Finance editors, to learn more about Iceland economic outlook, debt to GDP ratio, international trade performance and population trends. Rankings of Iceland best banks and safest banks are also available.
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International Reserves
USD 6.3 billion (2018)
International Monetary Fund (IMF), data retrieved October 2019
Real GDP growth
| 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 |
| 9.4% | 2% | -6.8% | -3.4% | 1.9% | 1.3% | 4.1% |
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | ||
| 2.1% | 4.7% | 6.6% | 4.6% | 4.6% |
*Estimate
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GDP (PPP) - share of world total
| 1980 | 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2019* |
| 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.02% | 0.01% | 0.01% |
*Estimate
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GDP - composition by sector
- agriculture: 5.8%
- industry: 19.7%
- services: 74.6%
(2017 estimate)
Gross domestic expenditure on R&D; (% of GDP)
2.1% (2017)
OECD, data retrieved October 2019
Inflation
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 1.6% | 1.7% | 1.8% | 2.7% | 2.8% |
*Estimate
Source
Unemployment rate
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| 4% | 3% | 2.8% | 2.7% | 3.3% |
*Estimate
Source
Public debt (General government gross debt as a % of GDP)
| 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016* | 2017* |
| 84.8% | 82.5% | 67.6% | 55.1% | 51.8% |
*Estimate
Source
Public deficit (General government net lending/borrowing as a % of GDP)
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018* | 2019* |
| -0.8% | 12.4% | 0.5% | 1.1% | -0.7% |
*Estimate
Source
Government bond ratings
Standard & Poor's: A
Moody's: A3
Standard & Poor's / Moody's
Source
Market value of publicly traded shares
| 2017 | 2018 | 2019 |
| N/A | N/A | N/A |
Source
Exports as percent of GDP (Exports of goods and services)
47.2% (2018)
Shares in world total merchandising export
0.03% (2018)
Shares in world total commercial services export
0.11% (2018)
Export commodities
Fish and fish products (42%), aluminum (38%), agricultural products, medicinal and medical products, ferro-silicon (2015)
Total imports
USD 11.4 billion (2018 estimate)
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Import commodities
Machinery and equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs, textiles
Exports - major partners
Netherlands 25.5%, Spain 13.6%, UK 9.4%, Germany 7.6%, US 7%, France 6.3%, Norway 4.9%
Imports - major partners
Germany 10.7%, Norway 9.2%, China 7%, Netherlands 6.7%, US 6.4%, Denmark 6.2%, UK 5.7%, Sweden 4.1%
FDI inflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD -427 million | USD -41 million | USD -336 million |
FDI outflows
| 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| USD -1,147 million | USD -208 million | USD 138 million |
Value of cross-border M&A, by country of purchaser
| 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 |
| N/A | USD 223.7 million | USD -87.6 million | USD 0.5 million |
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2014
N/A
Cross-border M&A deals worth over $3 billion completed in 2015
N/A
Best countries for doing business
Economies are ranked on their ease of doing business. A high ease of doing business ranking means the regulatory environment is more conducive to the starting and operation of a local firm.
Overall ranking: 26 out of 190 countries
Starting a Business: 64 out of 190 countries
Dealing with Construction Permits: 72 out of 190 countries
Getting Electricity: 16 out of 190 countries
Registering Property: 16 out of 190 countries
Getting Credit: 94 out of 190 countries
Protecting Minority Investors: 28 out of 190 countries
Paying Taxes: 42 out of 190 countries
Trading across Borders: 53 out of 190 countries
Enforcing Contracts: 33 out of 190 countries
Resolving Insolvency: 12 out of 190 countries
World Bank - Doing Business 2019
Source
Global competitiveness ranking
26 out of 141 countries
(2019)
Index of Economic Freedom
Ranking: 11 / Score: 77.1 (Mostly free) (2019)
(100=totally free 0=totally repressed)
Source
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Religions
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (official) 67.2%, Roman Catholic 3.9%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.8%, Hafnarfjordur Free Church 2%, Asatru Association 1.2%, The Independent Congregation .9%, other religions 4% (includes Zuist and Pentecostal), none 6.
Total population
| 1990 | 2000 | 2010 | 2015 | 2020* |
| 0.25 million | 0.28 million | 0.32 million | 0.33 million | 0.36 million |
*Estimate
Source
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Urban population as % of total population
| 1960 | 1980 | 2000 | 2018 |
| 80.3% | 88.3% | 92.4% | 93.8% |
% of population living on less than $3.10 a day
0% (last available estimate, 2014)
Inequality of wealth distribution (Gini index)
27.8 (last available estimate, 2014)
(0=perfect equality, 100=absolute inequality)
Source
Freedom House rating
Political Rights: 1
Civil Liberties: 1 (2019)
(1 represents the most free, 7 the least free rating)
Source
Total telephone subscribers as % of population
Fixed: 40.6% Mobile: 126.1% (2018)
(fixed-telephone subscribers and mobile-cellular subscribers)