Population growth in Iceland 2000-2021

After having decreased by 0.5 percent due to increasing emigration after the financial crisis in 2009, the annual population growth in Iceland has been positive since 2010. In 2021, the country's population increased by around two percent. At the beginning of 2022, the population of Iceland was 376,248 inhabitants.

Migration

One reason behind Iceland's growing population is immigration to Iceland. The number peaked in 2017, when nearly 15,000 people immigrated to Iceland. A high number of the immigrants who arrived in Iceland in 2020, came from other European countries, the largest group coming from Poland.

Decreasing fertility rate

While the number of births in Iceland increased slightly over recent years after having fallen until 2016, the fertility rate decreased over the last decade. In 2020, the fertility rate in Iceland was 1.72 children per woman. Despite this, Iceland's birth rate is roughly double its death rate, which results in natural population growth.