Proportion of rental dwellings decreased between the 2011 census and the 2021 census from 26.8% to 22.0%. During the same period, proportion of empty dwellings went from 6.6% to 10.1%. These are among the results from the Icelandic housing census which is a part of the 2021 population census.
Main results are the following:
- Proportion of rental housing decreased in all regions of the country except in the Westfjords
- Empty dwellings increased by more than 50%
- Dwellings in multi-apartment buildings grew in proportion in every region of the country except in the Southwest
- The highest rate of overcrowded dwellings was in areas in Upper and lower Breidholt and in Hlidar in Reykjavik
This publication only covers dwellings, 25 square meters or larger. Summer houses (used as dwellings), institutions or dwellings used for clients of institutions, enterprise buildings and governmental buildings (used as dwellings) are not counted as dwellings. Increase in institutional dwellings can be explained by different classification of dwellings which are used for clients of institutions. In 2011 they were counted as dwellings but in 2021 they were counted as institutions.
Proportion of empty dwellings went from 6.6% to 10.1% between censuses. The highest proportion of empty dwellings was in the Westfjords, 21.7% and in the Northwest, 20.7%. The lowest proportion of empty dwellings was in the Capital region, 7.5% but that is also where the highest increase was between 2011 and 2021. The Southwest was the only region with decreased proportion of empty dwellings. This decrease was considerable, from 18.4% to 9.0%.
Proportion of dwellings in multi-apartment buildings increased in all regions except the Southwest. By far the highest proportion dwellings in multi-apartment buildings was in the Capital region, 66.2%, followed by the Southwest, 42.4%. The lowest proportion was in the Northwest, 18.9% and in the East, 21.2%. The largest increase of dwellings in multi-apartment buildings was in the South, from 17.1% to 24.3%.
Availability of rental dwellings went down from 26.8% in 2011 to 22.0% in 2021. The proportion of rental dwellings decreased in all regions of the country except in the Westfjords. The Southwest and the Westfjords had the highest rate of rental dwellings, 27.7% and 25.5%. The largest decrease in proportion of rental dwellings was in the West region, from 27.1% to 20.2%.
When focusing on minor statistical output areas the largest dwellings were in Gardabaer – 1810, 197 square meters on average, and in Leirvogstunga in Mosfellsbaer – 2407, 164.5 square meters on average. They were followed by other minor statistical output areas in Gardabaer (1804 and 1802), eastern Seltjarnarnes - 2302 and in Seljahverfi in Reykjavik – 0904. The smallest dwellings were in minor statistical output areas in the centre of Reykjavik – 0302, 67.2 square meters on average, followed by Hlidarhverfi in Reykjavik – 0403, 67.6 square meters and in Vesturbaer north – 0101, 72.4 square meters.
In this publication, overcrowding is defined as less than 15 square meters per person in a dwelling. Only one minor statistical output area had no overcrowding, Kopavogur – Smarinn and Fifuhvammur - 2104. The second lowest overcrowding rate was in Hafnarfjordur: Setberg and Asland – 1602, Kopavogur: Vatnsendi – 2204 and in Reykjavik: Grafarholt and Kjalarnes - 1303, all with 0.2% of overcrowded dwellings. The highest rate of overcrowded dwellings was in Upper and lower Breidholt – 0803, 7.6% and in two areas in Reykjavik: Hlidar (0403 and 0405) where the proportion was 7.3% and 7.1% followed by areas in the centre of Reykjavik, Reykjavik: Vesturbaer south and Reykavik: Vesturbaer north.
Statistical Series – Population and housing census 1 January 2021 (published 14 November 2022)
Earlier releases from the 2021 census
The Icelandic population 359,122 in the 2021 census
The number of immigrants has doubled since the 2011 census
More than a third of the population with tertiary education
The labour market according to the 2021 census
Households in Iceland were 130,849 in the 2021 census
Many low-income households in central Reykjavík and in Ásbrú