Unemployment rate,Percent in Iceland
Iceland: Unemployment rate,Percent was 6.2% in 2026. ▲ Rising
Unemployment rate,Percent in Iceland, 2003–2026
Source: World Bank.
Analysis
The most recent figure for unemployment rate,percent in Iceland is 6.2%, measured in 2026.
The figure is up 38.3% on the previous year and up 79.6% over ten years.
Over the whole period, unemployment rate,percent in Iceland peaked at 8.4% in 2010 and was at its lowest, 2.5%, in 2007.
That places Iceland 28th out of 71 countries with data for 2026, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 24 years of available data.
Unemployment rate,Percent in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2003 | 3.5% | — |
| 2004 | 3.4% | -3.9% |
| 2005 | 2.9% | -13.7% |
| 2006 | 3.2% | +9.5% |
| 2007 | 2.5% | -22.7% |
| 2008 | 3.4% | +39.3% |
| 2009 | 8.1% | +136.1% |
| 2010 | 8.4% | +3.2% |
| 2011 | 7.9% | -5.6% |
| 2012 | 6.8% | -13.6% |
| 2013 | 6.1% | -10.7% |
| 2014 | 5.5% | -10.2% |
| 2015 | 4.6% | -16.3% |
| 2016 | 3.4% | -24.8% |
| 2017 | 3.2% | -5.7% |
| 2018 | 3.1% | -3.1% |
| 2019 | 3.9% | +25.1% |
| 2020 | 6.3% | +60.0% |
| 2021 | 5.7% | -8.8% |
| 2022 | 3.6% | -36.5% |
| 2023 | 3.4% | -6.8% |
| 2024 | 3.4% | +0.7% |
| 2025 | 4.5% | +30.6% |
| 2026 | 6.2% | +38.3% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 6.2% is above the median for high income countries, which is 5.0%, 1.2× the median. (45 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 6.2% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 5.2%, 1.2× the median. (35 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Unemployment rate,Percent in Iceland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | +136.1% | 3.4% | 8.1% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 3.9% | 2.5% | 8.1% | 7 |
| 2010s | 5.3% | 3.1% | 8.4% | 10 |
| 2020s | 4.7% | 3.4% | 6.3% | 7 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More reference data data for Iceland
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0288 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.0708 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0001 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Indirect emissions (N2O) - Agricultural Soils 0.1854 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure applied to Soils 0.0964 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure Management 0.062 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Manure left on Pasture 0.2576 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - IPCC Agriculture 0.7664 (2050)
- Emission Totals - Emissions (N2O) - Crop Residues 0.0005 (2050)
Frequently asked questions
- What is unemployment rate,percent in Iceland?
- Unemployment rate,percent in Iceland was 6.2% in 2026, according to the World Bank.
- What is the highest unemployment rate,percent recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 8.4% in 2010.
- What is the lowest unemployment rate,percent recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.5% in 2007.
- How does Iceland rank for unemployment rate,percent?
- Iceland ranks 28th out of 71 countries with data for 2026.
- Is unemployment rate,percent rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 79.6%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from the World Bank, published as part of Unemployment rate,Percent,,,. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 24 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).