OECD Economic Surveys: Iceland 2021

Abstract

This Survey is published on the responsibility of the Economic and Development Review Committee of the OECD, which is charged with the examination of the economic situation of member countries.

The economic situation and policies of Iceland were reviewed by the Committee on 14 June 2021. The draft report was then revised in light of the discussion and given final approval as the agreed report of the whole Committee on 25 June 2021.

The Secretariat’s draft report was prepared for the Committee by Hansjörg Blöchliger and Vassiliki Koutsogeorgopoulou, with inputs from Sigurður Jóhannesson and Marías Halldór Gestsson from the Institute of Economic Studies of the University of Iceland and Eunha Cho, consultant with the OECD Economics Department, under the supervision of Vincent Koen. Research assistance was provided by Natia Mosiashvili, and editorial support by Gemma Martinez and Sisse Nielsen.The previous Survey of Iceland was issued in September 2019.

Information about the latest as well as previous Surveys and more details about how Surveys are prepared is available at www.oecd.org/eco/surveys

Basic statistics of Iceland, 2019

(Numbers in parentheses refer to the OECD average)*

LAND, PEOPLE AND ELECTORAL CYCLE
Population (million)	0.4		Population density per km² (2018)	3.5	(38.1)
Under 15 (%)	19.6	(17.9)	Life expectancy at birth (years, 2018)	82.9	(80.1)
Over 65 (%)	15.2	(17.1)	Men (2018)	81.3	(77.5)
International migrant stock (% of population)	15.5	(13.3)	Women (2018)	84.5	(82.8)
Latest 5-year average growth (%)	2.0	(0.6)	Latest general election	June 2020
ECONOMY
Gross domestic product (GDP)			Value added shares (%)
In current prices (billion USD)	24.8		Agriculture, forestry and fishing	4.9	(2.6)
In current prices (billion ISK)	3 045.1		Industry including construction	21.7	(26.8)
Latest 5-year average real growth (%)	4.4	(2.2)	Services	73.4	(70.6)
Per capita (1000 USD PPP)	60.0	(48.3)
GENERAL GOVERNMENT (Per cent of GDP)
Expenditure	43.4	(40.6)	Gross financial debt (OECD: 2018)	61.5	(107.6)
Revenue	41.9	(37.5)	Net financial debt (OECD: 2018)	6.5	(67.8)
EXTERNAL ACCOUNTS
Exchange rate (ISK per USD)	122.61		Main exports (% of total merchandise exports)
PPP exchange rate (USA = 1)	140.57		Food and live animals	44.7
In per cent of GDP			Manufactured goods	37.3
Exports of goods and services	44.4	(54.2)	Machinery and transport equipment	8.5
Imports of goods and services	39.3	(50.6)	Main imports (% of total merchandise imports)
Current account balance	6.4	(0.3)	Machinery and transport equipment	33.6
Net international investment position	22.1		Manufactured goods	12.1
			Miscellaneous manufactured articles	12.0
LABOUR MARKET, SKILLS AND INNOVATION
Employment rate (aged 15 and over, %)	78.4	(57.6)	Unemployment rate, LFS (aged 15 and over, %)	3.5	(5.4)
Men	81.6	(65.6)	Youth (aged 15-24, %)	8.7	(11.7)
Women	75.0	(49.9)	Long-term unemployed (1 year and over, %)	0.2	(1.4)
Participation rate (aged 15 and over, %)	81.0	(61.1)	Tertiary educational attainment (aged 25-64, %)	45.0	(38.0)
Average hours worked per year	1,454	(1,726)	Gross domestic expenditure on R&D (% of GDP, 2018)	2.0	(2.6)
ENVIRONMENT
Total primary energy supply per capita (toe)	16.8	(3.9)	CO2 emissions from fuel combustion per capita (tonnes)	5.2	( 8.3)
Renewables (%)	90.1	(10.8)	Water abstractions per capita (1 000 m³, 2014)	9.2
Exposure to air pollution (more than 10 μg/m³ of PM 2.5, % of population)	3.5	(61.7)	Municipal waste per capita (tonnes, 2017, OECD: 2019)	0.7	(0.5)
SOCIETY
Income inequality (Gini coefficient, 2017, OECD: 2016)	0.250	(0.310)	Education outcomes (PISA score, 2018)
Relative poverty rate (%, 2017, OECD: 2016)	4.9	(11.4)	Reading	474	(487)
Median disposable household income (1000 USD PPP, 2017, OECD: 2016)	34.7	(24.4)	Mathematics	495	(489)
Public and private spending (% of GDP)			Science	475	(489)
Health care	8.8	(8.8)	Share of women in parliament (%)	38.1	(30.7)
Pensions (2017)	7.1	(8.6)	Net official development assistance (% of GNI, 2017)	0.3	(0.4)
Education (% of GNI, 2018)	7.4	(4.5)

The year is indicated in parenthesis if it deviates from the year in the main title of this table.

* Where the OECD aggregate is not provided in the source database, a simple OECD average of latest available data is calculated where data exist for at least 80% of member countries.

Source: Calculations based on data extracted from databases of the following organisations: OECD, International Energy Agency, International Labour Organisation, International Monetary Fund, United Nations, World Bank.