Demographics of Iceland

The demographics of Iceland include population density, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Demographics of Iceland
Population pyramid of Iceland in 2020
Population	400,000 (2024 est.)
Growth rate	0.93% (2022 est.)
Birth rate	12.96 births/1,000 population
Death rate	6.56 deaths/1,000 population
Life expectancy	83.64 years
• male	81.41 years
• female	85.97 years
Fertility rate	1.95 children
Infant mortality rate	1.65 deaths/1,000 live births
Net migration rate	2.89 migrant(s)/1,000 population
Sex ratio
Total	1 male(s)/female (2022 est.)
At birth	1.05 male(s)/female
Nationality
Nationality	Icelandic

As of 2022, the Icelandic population was just over 376,000. About 86,000 residents (23.7%) were of foreign background.^[1]

About 99% of the nation's inhabitants live in localities with populations greater than 200, and 64% live in the Capital Region.

History

The population of Iceland from 1703 to 2017, using data from Statistics Iceland.

The population of Iceland probably wavered between about 30,000 and 80,000 for most of the time since settlement. Official statistics begin in 1703, since when the population has grown from 50,358 to 376,248 (January 2022).^[2]

Migration

Settlement

Most Icelandic people are descendants of Norwegian settlers, and of Gaels from Ireland and Scotland who were brought over as slaves during the settlement of Iceland in the ninth century AD. Recent DNA analysis suggests that about 66 percent of the male settler-era population was of Norse ancestry and that the female population was 60 percent Celtic.^[3][4] Iceland remained extremely homogenous from its settlement era until the twentieth century.

Emigration

Large numbers of Icelanders began to emigrate from Iceland in the 1850s. It has been estimated that 17,000 Icelanders migrated to North America in the period 1870–1914, and that 2,000 of them moved back to Iceland; this net loss, 15,000, was about 20% of the Icelandic population in 1887.^[5] According to historian Gunnar Karlsson, "migration from Iceland is unique in that most went to Canada, whereas from most or all other European countries the majority went to the United States. This was partly due to the late beginning of emigration from Iceland after the Canadian authorities had begun to promote emigration in cooperation with the Allan Line, which already had an agent in Iceland in 1873. Contrary to most European countries, this promotion campaign was successful in Iceland, because emigration was only just about to start from there and Icelandic emigrants had no relatives in the United States to help them take the first steps".^[5]

In the wake of the 2008 Icelandic financial crisis, many Icelanders went to work abroad.^[6]

Immigration

Before the 1990s, there was little immigration to Iceland, and most of it was from other Scandinavian countries: about 1% of Icelanders in 1900 were of Danish heritage (born either in Denmark or to Danish parents).^[7] In the mid-1990s, 95% of Icelanders had parents of Icelandic origin, and 2% of Icelanders were first-generation immigrants (born abroad with both parents and all grandparents foreign-born).^[8][9]

Immigration to Iceland rose rapidly in the late twentieth century, encouraged by Iceland's accession to the European Economic Area in 1994, its entry into the Schengen Agreement in 2001, and the country's economic boom in the early twenty-first century. The largest ethnic minority is Poles, who are about a third of the immigrant population. In 2017, 10.6% of the people were first-generation immigrants.^[9]

Iceland is also developing relatively small populations of religious minorities, including Catholics (about 15,000 in 2020, 4.02% of Icelanders),^[10][11][12] Baháʼís (about 400 in 2010),^[13] Jews (about 250 in 2018),^[14] Buddhists (about 1,500 in 2021),^[15] Muslims (about 1,300 in 2015),^[16][17] and Eastern Orthodox (about 995 in 2024).^[18]

Research on the experience of immigrants to Iceland is in its early days.^[19][20] There is some evidence that racism is not as acute in Iceland as in neighbouring countries.^[21][22][23] But, while it is popularly believed in Iceland that racism does not exist there,^[24] there is evidence that in some respects immigrant populations experience prejudice and inequalities.^[25] For example, Iceland has a higher dropout rate from upper secondary school among young immigrants than the EEA average.^[26]

Iceland does not formally collect data on the ethnicity or racial identification of its citizens, but does collect data of the origin and background group by birth.^[27]

Historical population^[28]

Year	Pop.	±% p.a.
874	436	—
930	35,000	+8.15%
1100	60,000	+0.32%
1400	80,000	+0.10%
1495	40,000	−0.73%
1703	50,358	+0.11%
1750	48,241	−0.09%
1800	46,176	−0.09%
1850	59,586	+0.51%
1860	67,754	+1.29%
1870	69,463	+0.25%
1880	71,981	+0.36%
1890	70,581	−0.20%
1900	77,967	+1.00%
1910	84,528	+0.81%
1920	92,855	+0.94%
1930	106,360	+1.37%
1940	120,264	+1.24%
1950	141,042	+1.61%
1960	173,855	+2.11%
1970	204,042	+1.61%
1980	226,948	+1.07%
1990	253,785	+1.12%
2000	279,049	+0.95%
2010	317,630	+1.30%
2020	354,042	+1.09%
2024	383,726	+2.03%
Source: Statistics Iceland

Migration data

Net Immigration in Iceland (1961–present) ^[29]

Year	Total Net Immigration	Total Immigration	Total Emigration	Icelandic Citizens Net Immigration	Icelandic Citizens Immigration	Icelandic Citizens Emigration	Foreign Citizens Net Immigration	Foreign Citizens Immigration	Foreign Citizens Emigration
1961	-593	657	1250	-194	257	451	-399	400	799
1962	-193	493	686	-170	184	354	-23	309	332
1963	-78	727	805	-124	255	379	46	472	426
1964	-98	643	741	-203	176	379	105	467	362
1965	-99	640	739	-203	143	346	104	497	393
1966	32	742	710	-56	274	330	88	468	380
1967	-6	862	868	-111	242	353	105	620	515
1968	-399	756	1155	-422	216	638	23	540	517
1969	-1315	493	1808	-955	229	1184	-360	264	624
1970	-1564	628	2192	-1380	348	1728	-184	280	464
1971	-172	1221	1393	-308	858	1166	136	363	227
1972	431	1506	1075	156	1037	881	275	469	194
1973	-305	1125	1430	-348	734	1082	43	391	348
1974	351	1614	1263	80	982	902	271	632	361
1975	-326	1265	1591	-329	806	1135	3	459	456
1976	-1051	1053	2104	-995	706	1701	-56	347	403
1977	-1009	1358	2367	-1167	867	2034	158	491	333
1978	-700	1533	2233	-653	1141	1794	-47	392	439
1979	-525	1848	2373	-548	1354	1902	23	494	471
1980	-540	1796	2336	-642	1414	2056	102	382	280
1981	183	2161	1978	85	1688	1603	98	473	375
1982	645	2293	1648	461	1762	1301	184	531	347
1983	230	2154	1924	65	1552	1487	165	602	437
1984	-271	1939	2210	-324	1417	1741	53	522	469
1985	-508	1827	2335	-557	1285	1842	49	542	493
1986	-261	2703	2964	-438	2041	2479	177	662	485
1987	1208	3616	2408	682	2598	1916	526	1018	492
1988	1465	4149	2684	539	2395	1856	926	1754	828
1989	-1086	2755	3841	-1148	1735	2883	62	1020	958
1990	-681	3166	3847	-751	2055	2806	70	1111	1041
1991	1007	3989	2982	286	2281	1995	721	1708	987
1992	-255	2958	3213	204	1979	1775	-459	979	1438
1993	-203	2698	2901	-267	1749	2016	64	949	885
1994	-760	2676	3436	-861	1796	2657	101	880	779
1995	-1418	2867	4285	-1637	1929	3566	219	938	719
1996	-446	3662	4108	-1038	2406	3444	592	1256	664
1997	69	3990	3921	-574	2584	3158	643	1406	763
1998	880	4562	3682	-233	2788	3021	1113	1774	661
1999	1122	4785	3663	158	2867	2709	964	1918	954
2000	1714	5203	3489	62	2741	2679	1652	2462	810
2001	968	5002	4034	-472	2487	2959	1440	2515	1075
2022	8660	22209	13549	-526	5220	5746	9186	16989	7803
2023	6790	21561	14771	-214	4940	5154	7004	16621	9617

Background Groups	Year
	1996[30]		2001[30]		2006[30]		2011[30]		2016[30]		2021[30]
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Icelanders	260,054	97.10%	270,106	95.32%	278,975	93.02%	286,606	89.99%	292,326	87.90%	300,369	81.44%
Icelanders of two Icelandic parents	251,057	93.74%	259,109	91.44%	265,711	88.60%	270,771	85.02%	274,115	82.43%	279,236	75.71%
Born abroad, Icelandic background	3,490	1.30%	4,214	1.48%	4,880	1.62%	5,449	1.71%	5,971	1.79%	6,634	1.79%
Born in Iceland, one parent born abroad	5,507	2.05%	6,783	2.39%	8,384	2.79%	10,386	3.26%	12,240	3.68%	14,499	3.93%
Foreign	7,755	2.90%	13,255	4.67%	20,916	6.97%	31,846	10%	40,203	12.09%	68,423	18.55%
Immigrants	5,357	2.00%	10,073	3.55%	16,690	5.56%	25,697	8.06%	31,819	9.56%	57,126	15.49%
Descendants of Immigrants	345	0.12%	543	0.19%	1,116	0.37%	2,586	0.81%	4,152	1.24%	6,117	1.65%
Born abroad, one Icelandic parent	2,053	0.76%	2,639	0.93%	3,110	1.03%	3,563	1.11%	4,232	1.27%	5,180	1.40%
Total	267,809	100%	283,361	100%	299,891	100%	318,452	100%	332,529	100%	368,792	100%

Foreign-born communities of over 300^[1]

Country	2010	2015	2020	2021	2022
Poland	10,088	10,967	20,515	20,558	20,927
Denmark	3,236	3,283	3,644	3,701	3,839
Lithuania	1,442	1,499	3,299	3,292	3,420
United States	1,849	2,019	2,516	2,680	2,888
Romania	205	400	1,995	2,117	2,505
Philippines	1,407	1,565	2,223	2,276	2,374
Germany	1,697	1,649	2,065	2,180	2,367
Sweden	1,846	1,920	2,173	2,245	2,352
Latvia	641	735	1,965	2,087	2,252
United Kingdom	1,095	1,307	1,836	1,960	1,976
Thailand	1,062	1,196	1,428	1,465	1,497
Norway	987	1,036	1,273	1,305	1,369
Spain	288	540	1,076	1,161	1,331
Portugal	607	576	1,131	1,034	1,113
France	444	538	913	966	1,080
Vietnam	479	613	885	988	1,073
Croatia	148	169	828	825	898
Czech Republic	152	246	851	792	841
Italy	218	260	556	607	758
China	481	582	709	729	749
Hungary	154	218	506	550	580
Bulgaria	135	240	550	551	557
Venezuela	36	39	229	391	557
Serbia	312	307	516	528	550
India	272	305	387	439	544
Russia	294	364	502	515	534
Slovakia	234	243	511	463	511
Ukraine	210	274	430	457	510
Syria	19	35	331	402	471
Netherlands	297	288	401	431	451
Iraq	48	57	279	400	424
Canada	231	277	328	331	352
Greece	25	45	228	260	342
Moldova	13	21	173	227	341
Bosnia and Herzegovina	144	150	277	272	305
Other	7,066	7,489	8,561	9,014	9,115
Total immigrant population	35,121	39,221	66,767	68,938	73,258

Due to a shortage of labor,^[31] immigration to Iceland will most likely increase in the future.^[32] As of 2024, immigrants made up over 18% of Iceland's total population.^[33]

Patronymy

See also: Icelandic naming conventions

Most Icelandic names are based on patronymy, and consist of the given name(s) followed by the father's first given name (in the genitive case), followed by "son" or "daughter". For example, Magnús and Anna, children of a man named Pétur Jónsson, would have the full names Magnús Pétursson and Anna Pétursdóttir, respectively. Magnús's daughter Sigríður Ásta would be Sigríður Ásta Magnúsdóttir, and would remain so for the rest of her life regardless of marriage. An Icelandic patronymic is essentially only a designation of fatherhood, and is therefore redundant in Icelandic social life except to differentiate people of the same first name – the phone directory, for example, lists people by their given name first, patronymic second. Thus it has little in common with surnames in other countries except for its position after the given name. It is legally possible in Iceland to use a matronymic instead of a patronymic, using the mother's name instead of the father's. Use of the patronymic system is required by law, except for descendants of those who acquired family names before 1913 (about 10% of the population). One notable Icelander with an inherited family name is football star Eiður Smári Guðjohnsen.

Urbanisation

See also: Iceland § Urbanisation

According to University of Iceland economists Davíd F. Björnsson and Gylfi Zoega, "The policies of the colonial masters in Copenhagen delayed urbanisation. The Danish king maintained a monopoly in trade with Iceland from 1602 until 1855, which made the price of fish artificially low – the price of fish was higher in Britain – and artificially raised the price of agricultural products. Instead, Denmark bought the fish caught from Iceland at below world market prices. Although the trade monopoly ended in 1787, Icelanders could not trade freely with other countries until 1855. Following trade liberalisation, there was a substantial increase in fish exports to Britain, which led to an increase in the number of sailing ships used in fishing, introduced for the first time in 1780. The growth of the fishing industry then created demand for capital, and in 1885 Parliament created the first state bank (Landsbanki). In 1905 came the first motorised fishing vessel, which marked an important step in the development of a specialised fishing industry in Iceland. Iceland exported fresh fish to Britain and salted cod to southern Europe, with Portugal an important export market. Fishing replaced agriculture as the country’s main industry. These developments set the stage for the urbanisation that was to follow in the twentieth century."^[34]

A 2017 study looking at individuals going to the capital area for higher education found that "Only about one in three University of Iceland students from regions beyond commuting distance return after graduation, while about half remain in the capital area and others mostly emigrate."^[35] Iceland's 10 most populous urban areas:

Largest cities or towns in Iceland statice.is
	Rank	Name	Region	Pop.
Reykjavík Kópavogur	1	Reykjavík	Capital Region	138,722	Hafnarfjörður Reykjanesbær
	2	Kópavogur	Capital Region	36,975
	3	Hafnarfjörður	Capital Region	29,799
	4	Reykjanesbær	Southern Peninsula	18,920
	5	Akureyri	Northeastern Region	18,925
	6	Garðabær	Capital Region	16,299
	7	Mosfellsbær	Capital Region	11,463
	8	Árborg	Southern Region	9,485
	9	Akranes	Western Region	7,411
	10	Fjarðabyggð	Eastern Region	5,070

Religion

In 2016, 71.6% of the population belonged to the state church (the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland), approximately 5% in free churches, 3.7% to the Roman Catholic Church, approximately 1% to the Ásatrúarfélagið (a legally recognized revival of the pre-Christian religion of Iceland), approximately 1% to Zuism, 8% in unrecognized or unspecified religious groups, and 9% do not belong to any religious group.^[36]

Icelandic National Registry

Main article: Kennitala

All living Icelanders, as well as all foreign citizens with permanent residence in Iceland, have a personal identification number (kennitala) identifying them in the National Registry. This number is composed of 10 digits, whereof the first six are made up of the individual's birth date in the format DDMMYY. The next two digits are chosen at random when the kennitala is allocated, the 9th digit is a check digit, and the last digit indicates the period of one hundred years in which the individual was born (for instance, '9' for the period 1900–1999). An example would be 120192-3389. While similar, all-inclusive personal registries exist in other countries, the use of the national registry is unusually extensive in Iceland. It is worth noting that the completeness of the National Registry eliminates any need for census to be performed.

Summary of vital statistics since 1900

Data according to Statistics Iceland, which collects the official statistics for Iceland.^[37][38][39]

Year	Average population	Live births	Deaths	Natural change	Crude birth rate (per 1000)	Crude death rate (per 1000)	Natural change (per 1000)	Total fertility rate
1900	78,100	2,237	1,545	692	28.6	19.8	8.9	3.93
1901	78,400	2,179	1,155	1,024	27.8	14.7	13.1	3.86
1902	78,900	2,220	1,262	958	27.9	16.0	12.1	3.95
1903	79,400	2,244	1,324	920	28.3	16.7	11.6	4.00
1904	80,000	2,293	1,242	1,051	28.7	15.5	13.2	4.09
1905	80,700	2,271	1,435	836	28.1	17.8	10.4	4.02
1906	81,600	2,346	1,193	1,153	28.8	14.6	14.1	4.14
1907	82,500	2,304	1,396	908	27.9	16.9	11.0	4.04
1908	83,300	2,270	1,594	676	27.3	19.1	8.1	4.01
1909	84,100	2,283	1,263	1,020	27.1	15.0	12.1	4.00
1910	84,900	2,171	1,304	867	25.6	15.4	10.2	3.79
1911	85,400	2,205	1,152	1,053	25.8	13.5	12.3	3.80
1912	85,900	2,234	1,171	1,063	26.0	13.6	12.4	3.82
1913	86,600	2,216	1,060	1,156	25.6	12.2	13.3	3.76
1914	87,600	2,338	1,428	910	26.7	16.3	10.4	3.90
1915	88,600	2,446	1,376	1,070	27.6	15.5	12.1	4.00
1916	89,000	2,377	1,322	1,055	26.6	14.8	11.8	3.81
1917	91,000	2,427	1,111	1,316	26.8	12.3	14.5	3.82
1918	92,000	2,441	1,518	923	26.6	16.6	10.1	3.78
1919	92,000	2,342	1,169	1,173	25.4	12.7	12.7	3.62
1920	94,000	2,627	1,360	1,267	28.1	14.5	13.6	3.96
1921	95,000	2,601	1,478	1,123	27.4	15.6	11.8	3.87
1922	96,000	2,546	1,280	1,266	26.6	13.4	13.2	3.72
1923	97,000	2,612	1,287	1,325	26.9	13.3	13.7	3.77
1924	98,000	2,525	1,462	1,063	25.7	14.9	10.8	3.62
1925	99,000	2,554	1,229	1,325	25.7	12.4	13.3	3.59
1926	101,000	2,676	1,121	1,555	26.5	11.1	15.4	3.71
1927	103,000	2,642	1,282	1,360	25.8	12.5	13.3	3.59
1928	104,000	2,542	1,124	1,418	24.4	10.8	13.6	3.40
1929	106,000	2,644	1,237	1,407	25.0	11.7	13.3	3.47
1930	107,000	2,808	1,248	1,560	26.1	11.6	14.5	3.59
1931	109,000	2,804	1,277	1,527	25.7	11.7	14.0	3.53
1932	111,000	2,696	1,191	1,505	24.4	10.8	13.6	3.31
1933	112,000	2,531	1,159	1,372	22.5	10.3	12.2	3.07
1934	114,000	2,597	1,181	1,416	22.8	10.4	12.4	3.10
1935	115,000	2,551	1,402	1,149	22.1	12.2	10.0	2.99
1936	116,000	2,557	1,253	1,304	22.0	10.8	11.2	2.98
1937	117,000	2,397	1,317	1,080	20.4	11.2	9.2	2.78
1938	118,000	2,374	1,207	1,167	20.1	10.2	9.9	2.71
1939	120,000	2,363	1,160	1,203	19.8	9.7	10.1	2.68
1940	121,000	2,480	1,200	1,280	20.5	9.9	10.6	2.75
1941	122,000	2,634	1,352	1,282	21.6	11.1	10.5	2.91
1942	123,000	3,005	1,293	1,712	24.4	10.5	13.9	3.26
1943	125,000	3,173	1,268	1,905	25.4	10.1	15.2	3.36
1944	127,000	3,213	1,218	1,995	25.3	9.6	15.7	3.34
1945	129,000	3,434	1,179	2,255	26.6	9.1	17.5	3.55
1946	132,000	3,434	1,121	2,313	26.1	8.5	17.6	3.47
1947	134,000	3,706	1,162	2,544	27.6	8.6	18.9	3.67
1948	137,000	3,821	1,114	2,707	27.8	8.1	19.7	3.72
1949	140,000	3,884	1,106	2,778	27.8	7.9	19.9	3.73
1950	143,000	4,093	1,122	2,971	28.7	7.9	20.8	3.86
1951	145,000	3,999	1,145	2,854	27.5	7.9	19.6	3.72
1952	148,000	4,075	1,082	2,993	27.5	7.3	20.2	3.79
1953	151,000	4,254	1,118	3,136	28.1	7.4	20.7	3.94
1954	154,000	4,281	1,064	3,217	27.7	6.9	20.8	3.91
1955	158,000	4,505	1,099	3,406	28.5	7.0	21.5	4.07
1956	161,000	4,603	1,153	3,450	28.5	7.2	21.3	4.14
1957	165,000	4,725	1,157	3,568	28.6	7.0	21.6	4.20
1958	168,000	4,641	1,165	3,476	27.5	6.9	20.6	4.09
1959	172,000	4,837	1,242	3,595	28.1	7.2	20.9	4.24
1960	176,000	4,916	1,167	3,749	28.0	6.6	21.4	4.27
1961	179,000	4,563	1,248	3,315	25.5	7.0	18.5	3.88
1962	182,000	4,711	1,237	3,474	25.9	6.8	19.1	3.98
1963	186,000	4,820	1,327	3,493	26.0	7.1	18.9	3.98
1964	189,000	4,787	1,315	3,472	25.3	7.0	18.3	3.86
1965	192,000	4,721	1,291	3,430	24.6	6.7	17.9	3.71
1966	196,000	4,692	1,391	3,301	24.0	7.1	16.9	3.58
1967	199,000	4,404	1,385	3,019	22.2	7.0	15.2	3.28
1968	201,000	4,227	1,390	2,837	21.0	6.9	14.1	3.07
1969	203,000	4,218	1,451	2,767	20.8	7.1	13.7	2.99
1970	204,000	4,023	1,457	2,566	19.7	7.1	12.6	2.81
1971	206,000	4,277	1,501	2,776	20.8	7.3	13.5	2.92
1972	209,000	4,676	1,447	3,229	22.3	6.9	15.4	3.09
1973	212,000	4,598	1,475	3,123	21.7	6.9	14.8	2.95
1974	215,000	4,276	1,495	2,781	19.9	6.9	13.0	2.66
1975	218,000	4,384	1,412	2,972	20.1	6.5	13.6	2.65
1976	220,000	4,291	1,343	2,948	19.5	6.1	13.4	2.52
1977	222,000	3,996	1,435	2,561	18.0	6.5	11.5	2.31
1978	224,000	4,162	1,421	2,741	18.6	6.4	12.2	2.35
1979	226,000	4,475	1,482	2,993	19.8	6.6	13.2	2.49
1980	228,000	4,528	1,538	2,990	19.8	6.7	13.1	2.48
1981	231,000	4,345	1,656	2,689	18.8	7.2	11.6	2.33
1982	234,000	4,337	1,583	2,754	18.5	6.8	11.7	2.26
1983	237,000	4,371	1,653	2,718	18.4	7.0	11.4	2.24
1984	240,000	4,113	1,584	2,529	17.2	6.6	10.6	2.08
1985	241,000	3,856	1,652	2,204	16.0	6.8	9.2	1.93
1986	243,000	3,881	1,598	2,283	16.0	6.6	9.4	1.93
1987	246,000	4,193	1,724	2,469	17.0	7.0	10.0	2.07
1988	250,000	4,673	1,818	2,855	18.7	7.3	11.4	2.27
1989	253,000	4,560	1,716	2,844	18.0	6.8	11.2	2.20
1990	255,000	4,768	1,704	3,064	18.7	6.7	12.0	2.31
1991	258,000	4,533	1,796	2,737	17.6	7.0	10.6	2.19
1992	261,000	4,609	1,719	2,890	17.7	6.6	11.1	2.21
1993	264,000	4,623	1,753	2,870	17.5	6.6	10.9	2.22
1994	266,000	4,442	1,717	2,725	16.7	6.4	10.3	2.14
1995	267,000	4,280	1,923	2,357	16.0	7.2	8.8	2.08
1996	269,000	4,329	1,879	2,450	16.1	7.0	9.1	2.12
1997	271,000	4,151	1,843	2,308	15.3	6.8	8.5	2.04
1998	274,000	4,178	1,821	2,357	15.3	6.7	8.6	2.05
1999	277,000	4,100	1,901	2,199	14.9	6.9	8.0	1.99
2000	281,000	4,315	1,828	2,487	15.5	6.5	9.0	2.08
2001	285,000	4,091	1,725	2,366	14.4	6.1	8.3	1.95
2002	288,000	4,049	1,822	2,227	14.1	6.3	7.8	1.93
2003	290,000	4,143	1,826	2,317	14.3	6.3	8.0	1.99
2004	292,000	4,234	1,824	2,410	14.5	6.2	8.3	2.03
2005	297,000	4,280	1,837	2,443	14.4	6.2	8.2	2.05
2006	304,000	4,415	1,903	2,512	14.7	6.3	8.4	2.07
2007	308,000	4,560	1,943	2,617	14.9	6.3	8.6	2.09
2008	315,000	4,835	1,987	2,848	15.4	6.2	9.2	2.14
2009	318,000	5,026	2,002	3,024	15.8	6.3	9.5	2.22
2010	315,000	4,907	2,020	2,887	15.6	6.4	9.2	2.20
2011	312,000	4,492	1,986	2,506	14.4	6.4	8.0	2.02
2012	314,000	4,533	1,955	2,578	14.4	6.2	8.2	2.04
2013	318,000	4,326	2,154	2,172	13.6	6.8	6.8	1.93
2014	321,000	4,375	2,049	2,326	13.6	6.4	7.2	1.93
2015	324,500	4,129	2,178	1,951	12.7	6.7	6.0	1.81
2016	329,300	4,034	2,309	1,725	12.2	7.0	5.2	1.75
2017	337,300	4,071	2,239	1,832	12.1	6.6	5.4	1.71
2018	345,800	4,228	2,257	1,971	12.2	6.5	5.7	1.71
2019	351,800	4,452	2,277	2,175	12.7	6.5	6.2	1.74
2020	356,200	4,512	2,308	2,204	12.7	6.5	6.2	1.72
2021	361,600	4,879	2,338	2,541	13.5	6.5	7.0	1.82
2022	370,100	4,382	2,693	1,698	11.8	7.3	4.6	1.67
2023	379,500	4,315	2,571	1,744	11.4	6.8	4.6	1.59
2024	389,500	4,311	2,620	1,660	11.1	6.8	4.3	1.56

^[40]

Current vital statistics

^[41]

Period	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase
January - September 2023	3,260	1,910	+1,350
January - September 2024	3,230	1,970	+1,260
Difference	-30 (-0.92%)	+60 (+3.14%)	-90

Structure of the population

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	186 941	177 193	364 134	100
0–4	11 029	10 333	21 362	5.87
5–9	11 831	11 396	23 227	6.38
10–14	12 186	11 444	23 630	6.49
15–19	11 289	10 954	22 243	6.11
20–24	13 251	12 519	25 770	7.08
25–29	16 328	14 239	30 567	8.39
30–34	14 816	12 572	27 388	7.52
35–39	13 992	12 081	26 073	7.16
40–44	12 557	11 454	24 011	6.59
45–49	12 007	10 958	22 965	6.31
50–54	11 232	10 795	22 027	6.05
55–59	10 985	10 980	21 965	6.03
60–64	10 288	10 145	20 433	5.61
65-69	8 550	8 431	16 981	4.66
70-74	6 821	6 796	13 617	3.74
75-79	4 402	4 871	9 273	2.55
80-84	2 866	3 272	6 138	1.69
85-89	1 724	2 430	4 154	1.14
90-94	667	1 199	1 866	0.51
95-99	109	285	394	0.11
100+	11	39	50	0.01
Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0–14	35 046	33 173	68 219	18.73
15–64	126 745	116 697	243 442	66.86
65+	25 150	27 323	52 473	14.41

Population Estimates by Sex and Age Group (01.I.2020): ^[42]

Population projection

Population projection
(1 January)^[43]

Year	Low	Medium	High
2025	388,325	391,092	394,114
2026	395,362	399,559	404,183
2027	402,285	407,998	414,271
2028	409,095	416,366	424,367
2029	415,807	424,692	434,490
2030	422,420	432,977	444,675
2035	452,799	472,516	494,932
2040	478,091	508,125	543,572
2045	496,851	537,749	588,698
2050	509,107	561,114	629,815
2055	515,920	578,855	667,611
2060	517,967	591,498	702,683
2065	516,868	600,839	736,711
2070	511,417	605,250	767,775
2074	503,633	604,833	790,071

Life expectancy

Life expectancy in Iceland since 1838

Life expectancy in Iceland since 1960 by sex

Period	Life expectancy in Years	Period	Life expectancy in Years
1950–1955	72.2	1985–1990	77.6
1955–1960	73.2	1990–1995	78.5
1960–1965	73.5	1995–2000	79.1
1965–1970	73.7	2000–2005	80.7
1970–1975	74.2	2005–2010	81.4
1975–1980	76.3	2010–2015	82.2
1980–1985	76.9

Source: UN World Population Prospects^[44]

CIA World Factbook demographic statistics

The following demographic statistics are from the CIA World Factbook, unless otherwise indicated.^[45]

Age structure

0–14 years: 19.8% (male 36,692/female 35,239)
15–64 years: 63.2% (male 116,210/female 113,810)
65 years and over: 17.1% (male 29,366/female 32,719) (2024 est.)

Sex ratio

at birth: 1.05 males: 1 female
under 15 years: 1.04 males: 1 female

15–64 years: 1.02 males: 1 female
65 years and over: 0.9 males: 1 female
total population: 1 male: 1 female (2024 est.)

Maternal mortality rate

3 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)

Infant mortality rate

1.6 deaths/1,000 live births (2024 est.)

Life expectancy at birth

total population: 84 years
male: 81.8 years
female: 86.3 years (2024 est.)

Health expenditures

9.6% of GDP (2020)

Physicians density

4.14 physicians/1,000 population (2019)

Obesity – adult prevalence rate

21.9% (2016)

Education expenditures

7.7% of GDP (2020 est.)

Mother's mean age at first birth

28.7 (2020 est.)

Nationality

noun: Icelander(s)
adjective: Icelandic

Ethnic groups

78.7% Icelandic, 5.8% Polish, 1% Danish, 1% Ukrainian, 13.5% other (2024 est.)

Religions

Evangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (official) 58.6%, Roman Catholic 3.8%, Independent Congregation of Reykjavik 2.6%, Independent Congregation of Hafnarfjordur 1.9%, Pagan Worship 1.5%, Icelandic Ethical Humanist Association 1.4%, other or unspecified 18.7%, none 7.7% (2024 est.)

Languages

Icelandic (English and a second Nordic language, Danish by default, are also a part of the Icelandic compulsory education).