Demographics & population — Iceland
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Iceland: 350,734
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Population overview
- Population
350,734
- Population Growth Rate
0.66%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
REYKJAVIK (capital) 206,000
Age & family
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
.53
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
homogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6%
- Language Note
Icelandic is part of the North Germanic branches of languages, and so is most closely related to Norwegian, Swedish, Danish and Faroese Icelandic is based on the Latin alphabet, with the addition of Þ, ð, æ, and the diacritics á, é, í, ó, ú and ö Icelandic developed into a distinct Scandinavian language around the 12th century.
- Nationality Noun
Icelander(s)
Education
- Literacy - total population
99%
- Literacy - male
99%
- Literacy - female
99%
- Literacy Definition
age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
7.6%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
5
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
3.46
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
5.8
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
9.1%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
