Country Fast Facts: Iceland

Settled by Norwegian and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th centuries A.D., Iceland boasts the world's oldest functioning legislative assembly, the Althing, established in 930.

Independent for over 300 years, Iceland was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark.

Fallout from the Askja volcano of 1875 devastated the Icelandic economy and caused widespread famine.

Over the next quarter century, 20% of the island's population emigrated, mostly to Canada and the US. Limited home rule from Denmark was granted in 1874 and complete independence attained in 1944.

Literacy, longevity, and social cohesion are first-rate by world standards.

Source: CIA World Fact Book

Population:
306,694 (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 178

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Age structure:
0-14 years: 20.7% (male 32,268/female 31,308)
15-64 years: 67.1% (male 104,158/female 101,584)
65 years and over: 12.2% (male 16,952/female 20,424) (2009 est.)

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Median age:
total: 35.1 years
male: 34.6 years
female: 35.6 years (2009 est.)

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Population growth rate:
0.741% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 145

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Birth rate:
13.43 births/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 155

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Death rate:
6.85 deaths/1,000 population (July 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 137

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Net migration rate:
0.83 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 59

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Urbanization:
urban population: 92% of total population (2008)
rate of urbanization: 0.8% annual rate of change (2005-10 est.)

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Sex ratio:
at birth: 1.04 male(s)/female
under 15 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.83 male(s)/female
total population: 1 male(s)/female (2009 est.)

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Infant mortality rate:
total: 3.23 deaths/1,000 live births
country comparison to the world: 218
male: 3.38 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 3.08 deaths/1,000 live births (2009 est.)

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Life expectancy at birth:
total population: 80.67 years
country comparison to the world: 13
male: 78.53 years
female: 82.9 years (2009 est.)

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Total fertility rate:
1.9 children born/woman (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 146

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HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rate:
0.2% (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 100

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HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDS:
220 (2007 est.)
country comparison to the world: 155

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HIV/AIDS - deaths:
fewer than 100 (2003 est.)
country comparison to the world: 144

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Nationality:
noun: Icelander(s)
adjective: Icelandic

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Ethnic groups:
homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6%

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Religions:
Lutheran Church of Iceland 80.7%, Roman Catholic Church 2.5%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.4%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 1.6%, other religions 3.6%, unaffiliated 3%, other or unspecified 6.2% (2006 est.)

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Languages:
Icelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken

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Literacy:
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 99%
male: 99%
female: 99% (2003 est.)

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School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
total: 18 years
male: 17 years
female: 19 years (2006)

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Education expenditures:
7.6% of GDP (2004)
country comparison to the world: 16

Iceland's Scandinavian-type social-market economy combines a capitalist structure and free-market principles with an extensive welfare system. Prior to the 2008 crisis, Iceland had achieved high growth, low unemployment, and a remarkably even distribution of income. The economy depends heavily on the fishing industry, which provides 40% of export earnings, more than 12% of GDP, and employs 7% of the work force.

It remains sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to fluctuations in world prices for its main exports: fish and fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon. Iceland's economy has been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the last decade, with new developments in software production, biotechnology, and tourism. Abundant geothermal and hydropower sources have attracted substantial foreign investment in the aluminum sector and boosted economic growth, although the financial crisis has put several investment projects on hold.

Much of Iceland's economic growth in recent years came as the result of a boom in domestic demand following the rapid expansion of the country's financial sector. Domestic banks expanded aggressively in foreign markets, and consumers and businesses borrowed heavily in foreign-currencies, following the privatization of the banking sector in the early 2000s. Worsening global financial conditions throughout 2008 resulted in a sharp depreciation of the krona vis-a-vis other major currencies. The foreign exposure of Icelandic banks, whose loans and other assets totaled more than 10 times the country's GDP, became unsustainable. Iceland's three largest banks collapsed in late 2008.

The country secured over $10 billion in loans from the IMF and other countries to stabilize its currency and financial sector, and to back government guarantees for foreign deposits in Icelandic banks. GDP fell 6.3% in 2009, and unemployment peaked at 8.8%. GDP growth is expected to be near zero in 2010. Since the collapse of Iceland's financial sector, government economic priorities have included stabilizing the krona, reducing Iceland's high budget deficit, containing inflation, restructuring the financial sector, and diversifying the economy.

Three new banks were established to take over the domestic assets of the collapsed banks. Two of them have foreign majority ownership, while the State holds a majority of the shares of the third. British and Dutch authorities have pressed claims against Icelandic Landsbanki to compensate their own citizens for losses suffered on deposits held in that bank. The collapse of the financial system initially led to a major shift in opinion in favor of joining the EU and adopting the euro, although support has dropped substantially because of concern about losing control of their fishing resources and in reaction to measures taken by EU partners following the financial crisis.

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GDP (purchasing power parity):
$12.2 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 142
$13.02 billion (2008 est.)
$12.85 billion (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

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GDP (official exchange rate):
$11.78 billion (2009 est.)

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GDP - real growth rate:
-6.3% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 196
1.3% (2008 est.)
5.5% (2007 est.)

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GDP - per capita (PPP):
$39,800 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 20
$42,800 (2008 est.)
$42,600 (2007 est.)
note: data are in 2009 US dollars

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GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 5.2%
industry: 24%
services: 70.8% (2009 est.)

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Labor force:
180,900 (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 173

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Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture: 4.8%
industry: 22.2%
services: 73% (2008)

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Unemployment rate:
8.2% (December 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 91
4.8% (December 2008 est.)
note: this figure climbed to 9.4% as of February 2009

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Population below poverty line:
NA%

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Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

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Distribution of family income - Gini index:
28 (2006) 25 (2005)
country comparison to the world: 122

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Investment (gross fixed):
18.6% of GDP (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 115

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Budget:
revenues: $3.879 billion
expenditures: $5.488 billion (2009 est.)

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Public debt:
95.1% of GDP (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 11
56.5% of GDP (2008 est.)

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Inflation rate (consumer prices):
12% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 201
12.7% (2008 est.)

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Central bank discount rate:
22% (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 12
15.25% (31 December 2007)

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Commercial bank prime lending rate:
NA% (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 18
19.29% (31 December 2007)

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Stock of money:
$4.71 billion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 59
$6.64 billion (31 December 2007)

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Stock of quasi money:
$15.05 billion (31 December 2006)
country comparison to the world: 49
$15.05 billion (#REF!)

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Stock of domestic credit:
$NA (31 December 2008)
$49.67 billion (31 December 2006)

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Market value of publicly traded shares:
$6.1 billion (31 December 2008)
country comparison to the world: 62
$40.56 billion (31 December 2007)
$36.1 billion (31 December 2006)

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Agriculture - products:
potatoes, green vegetables; mutton, chicken, pork, beef, dairy products; fish

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Industries:
fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production; geothermal power, hydropower, tourism

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Industrial production growth rate:
-10% (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 144

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Electricity - production:
16.84 billion kWh (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 74

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Electricity - consumption:
16.48 billion kWh (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 73

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Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)

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Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2008 est.)

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Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 173

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Oil - consumption:
19,880 bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 127

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Oil - exports:
2,975 bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 111

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Oil - imports:
17,510 bbl/day (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 118

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Oil - proved reserves:
0 bbl (1 January 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 160

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Natural gas - production:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 177

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Natural gas - consumption:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 173

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Natural gas - exports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 66

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Natural gas - imports:
0 cu m (2008 est.)
country comparison to the world: 169

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Natural gas - proved reserves:
0 cu m (1 January 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 166

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Current account balance:
-$1.03 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 130
-$6.606 billion (2008 est.)

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Exports:
$4.218 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 110
$5.399 billion (2008 est.)

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Exports - commodities:
fish and fish products 70%, aluminum, animal products, ferrosilicon, diatomite

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Exports - partners:
Netherlands 33.8%, UK 11.7%, Germany 11.5%, US 5.8%, Japan 4.9%, Norway 4.1% (2008)

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Imports:
$2.826 billion (2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 137
$5.699 billion (2008 est.)

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Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, petroleum products, foodstuffs, textiles

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Imports - partners:
Norway 10.9%, Germany 10.4%, Sweden 9%, US 8%, Denmark 7.4%, China 6.8%, Netherlands 5.9%, UK 4.4%, Japan 4% (2008)

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Reserves of foreign exchange and gold:
$2.541 billion (31 December 2009 est.)
country comparison to the world: 86
$2.5 billion (31 December 2008 est.)

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Debt - external:
$3.073 billion (2002)
country comparison to the world: 118

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Stock of direct foreign investment - at home:
$9.2 billion
country comparison to the world: 77

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Stock of direct foreign investment - abroad:
$NA

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Exchange rates:
Icelandic kronur (ISK) per US dollar - 128.417 (2009), 85.619 (2008), 63.391 (2007), 70.195 (2006), 62.982 (2005)