Iceland: People & Society#

Population335,878 (July 2016 est.)
Nationalitynoun: Icelander(s)
adjective: Icelandic
Ethnic groupshomogeneous mixture of descendants of Norse and Celts 94%, population of foreign origin 6%
LanguagesIcelandic, English, Nordic languages, German widely spoken
ReligionsEvangelical Lutheran Church of Iceland (official) 73.8%, Roman Catholic 3.6%, Reykjavik Free Church 2.9%, Hafnarfjorour Free Church 2%, The Independent Congregation 1%, other religions 3.9% (includes Pentecostal and Asatru Association), none 5.6%, other or unspecified 7.2% (2015 est.)
Age structure0-14 years: 20.4% (male 35,009/female 33,495)
15-24 years: 13.77% (male 23,452/female 22,789)
25-54 years: 39.99% (male 67,878/female 66,428)
55-64 years: 11.75% (male 19,848/female 19,622)
65 years and over: 14.1% (male 22,130/female 25,227) (2016 est.)
Dependency ratiostotal dependency ratio: 51.6%
youth dependency ratio: 30.8%
elderly dependency ratio: 20.8%
potential support ratio: 4.8% (2015 est.)
Median agetotal: 36.3 years
male: 35.7 years
female: 36.9 years (2016 est.)
Population growth rate1.17% (2016 est.)
Birth rate13.8 births/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Death rate6.3 deaths/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Net migration rate4.2 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2016 est.)
Population distributionIceland is almost entirely urban with half of the population located in and around the capital of Reykjavik; smaller agglomerations are primarily found along the coast in the north and west
Urbanizationurban population: 94.1% of total population (2015)
rate of urbanization: 1.25% annual rate of change (2010-15 est.)
Major urban areas - populationREYKJAVIK (capital) 184,000 (2014)
Sex ratioat birth: 1.05 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.05 male(s)/female
15-24 years: 1.03 male(s)/female
25-54 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
55-64 years: 1.01 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.88 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2016 est.)
Mother's mean age at first birth27 (2011 est.)
Maternal mortality rate3 deaths/100,000 live births (2015 est.)
Infant mortality ratetotal: 2.1 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 2.2 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 1.9 deaths/1,000 live births (2016 est.)
Life expectancy at birthtotal population: 83 years
male: 80.9 years
female: 85.3 years (2016 est.)
Total fertility rate2.01 children born/woman (2016 est.)
Health expenditures8.9% of GDP (2014)
Physicians density3.48 physicians/1,000 population (2012)
Hospital bed density3.2 beds/1,000 population (2012)
Drinking water sourceimproved:
urban: 100% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 100% of population
unimproved:
urban: 0% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 0% of population (2015 est.)
Sanitation facility accessmproved:
urban: 98.7% of population
rural: 100% of population
total: 98.8% of population
unimproved:
urban: 1.3% of population
rural: 0% of population
total: 1.2% of population (2015 est.)
HIV/AIDS - adult prevalence rateNA
HIV/AIDS - people living with HIV/AIDSNA
HIV/AIDS - deathsNA
Obesity - adult prevalence rate23.9% (2014)
Education expenditures7.8% of GDP (2013)
School life expectancy (primary to tertiary education)total: 19 years
male: 18 years
female: 20 years (2012)
Unemployment, youth ages 15-24total: 9.8%
male: 12.9%
female: 6.6% (2014 est.)