The total turnover of enterprises in activities that are subject to VAT, excluding the pharmaceutical industry, amounted to 4,273 billion ISK in the twelve month period of March 2017 to February 2018, which is an increase of 6.0% compared with preceding twelve months.
Turnover in fisheries increased much from early 2017 to early 2018, but due to the fishermen’s strike, turnover in fisheries was unusually low in the first months of 2017. Turnover in the manufacture of basic metals was 15.2% higher in January to February 2018 than in the same period the year before. In the same time period, the turnover in other production decreased.
Turnover in construction, mining and quarrying has increased by 14%. The turnover in car-rentals also increased much, and this is supported by the fact that in January and February 2018 there were 16% more rental cars listed than one year earlier.
| Table 1: Turnover according to VAT-reports (billion ISK) | ||||||
| Jan.-Feb. 2017 | Jan.-Feb. 2018 | % | March 2016-Feb. 2017 | March 2017-Feb. 2018 | % | |
| Total excluding the pharmaceutical industry¹ | 548 | 617 | 12.8 | 4,033 | 4,273 | 6.0 |
| A-01/A-02 Agriculture and forestry² | • | • | • | 51 | 51 | -0.6 |
| A-03/C-102 Fishing, aquaculture; fish processing | 31 | 50 | 59.0 | 326 | 342 | 4.8 |
| C-24 Manufacture of basic metals | 35 | 41 | 15.2 | 201 | 228 | 13.3 |
| C Manufacturing; excluding fish processing, pharmaceutical industry and manufacture of basic metals | 60 | 59 | -0.8 | 400 | 413 | 3.1 |
| D/E Electricity, gas; water supply; sewerage and waste management | 28 | 30 | 9.6 | 163 | 172 | 6.0 |
| F/B Construction, mining and quarrying | 38 | 43 | 14.2 | 289 | 328 | 13.7 |
| G-45 Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 22 | 24 | 7.4 | 162 | 176 | 8.3 |
| G-46171/G-46172/G-46381 Wholesale of fish and fish markets | 23 | 31 | 31.7 | 215 | 202 | -6.0 |
| G-4671 Wholesale of fuels | 15 | 16 | 1.0 | 113 | 124 | 9.8 |
| G-46 Other wholesale | 49 | 52 | 5.3 | 341 | 344 | 0.9 |
| G-47 Retail trade | 62 | 66 | 6.9 | 433 | 461 | 6.5 |
| H Transportation and storage | 56 | 65 | 16.2 | 429 | 464 | 8.0 |
| I Accommodation and food service activities | 22 | 24 | 6.7 | 178 | 191 | 7.7 |
| J Information and communication | 30 | 31 | 4.4 | 194 | 199 | 2.4 |
| N-7711 Renting and leasing of cars and light motor vehicles | 5 | 6 | 21.0 | 46 | 52 | 12.6 |
| N-79 Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities | 13 | 13 | 2.3 | 100 | 108 | 7.8 |
| e-services from abroad bought by households in Iceland | 1 | 1 | 55.9 | 4 | 7 | 83.9 |
| Other fields of activity | 55 | 63 | 15.5 | 389 | 413 | 6.3 |
| ¹For the time being, VAT-turnover is pubished excluding the pharmaceutical industry. Data validation is ongoing | ||||||
| ²Most farmers report VAT every 6 months. Hence data in two-month buckets are not a good indicator of trends in agriculture. | ||||||
Turnover by VAT-rate
The higher VAT-rate, or standard rate, is now 24%. All goods and services are subject to this rate unless otherwise specified in the law on VAT (Act 50/1988).
The lower VAT-rate is now 11%. Examples of goods and services in this category include: books, newspapers, house-heating, food, restaurants, accommodation services, and domestic passenger transport (excluding public transport). Alcoholic beverages are subject to the lower VAT-rate since 1 January 2016.
A zero-rated supply falls within the scope of the VAT Act, but no output VAT is charged since the rate is zero. This category includes export of goods and services and contractual payments from the Treasury regarding milk production and sheep farming.
Some services are exempt from VAT, e.g. public transport, medical services, athletic activities, museums, postal services, and lotteries. The suppliers of such services cannot charge VAT or get credit for input VAT on purchases for the exempt (part of the) business.
More details on VAT can be found at the Directorate of Internal Revenue.
| Table 2: VAT-turnover March 2017-February 2018, by VAT-rate (billion ISK) | ||||
| Zero rate | Reduced rate | Standard rate | Total | |
| Total excluding the pharmaceutical industry¹ | 1,279 (30%) | 918 (21%) | 2,076 (49%) | 4,273 |
| A-01/A-02 Agriculture and forestry | 10 (19%) | 11 (21%) | 30 (60%) | 51 |
| A-03/C-102 Fishing, aquaculture; fish processing | 232 (68%) | 95 (28%) | 15 (5%) | 342 |
| C-24 Manufacture of basic metals | 226 (99%) | 0 (0%) | 1 (1%) | 228 |
| C Manufacturing excluding fish processing (C-102), the pharmaceutical industry (C-21) and manufacture of basic metals (C-24) |
100 (24%) | 136 (33%) | 176 (43%) | 413 |
| D/E Electricity, gas; water supply; sewerage and waste management | 7 (4%) | 26 (15%) | 139 (81%) | 172 |
| F/B Construction, mining and quarrying | 5 (1%) | 1 (0%) | 323 (98%) | 328 |
| G-45 Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 8 (5%) | 0 (0%) | 167 (95%) | 176 |
| G-46171/G-46172/G-46381 Wholesale of fish and fish markets | 152 (76%) | 40 (20%) | 9 (5%) | 202 |
| G-4671 Wholesale of fuels | 28 (22%) | 6 (5%) | 90 (73%) | 124 |
| G-46 Other wholesale | 28 (8%) | 89 (26%) | 227 (66%) | 344 |
| G-47 Retail trade | 20 (4%) | 192 (42%) | 249 (54%) | 461 |
| H Transportation and storage | 360 (78%) | 25 (5%) | 79 (17%) | 464 |
| I Accommodation and food service activities | 5 (3%) | 179 (93%) | 8 (4%) | 191 |
| J Information and communication | 40 (20%) | 16 (8%) | 143 (72%) | 199 |
| N-7711 Renting and leasing of cars and light motor vehicles | 1 (2%) | 0 (1%) | 51 (98%) | 52 |
| N-79 Travel agency, tour operator reservation service and related activities | 15 (14%) | 86 (80%) | 7 (6%) | 108 |
| e-services from abroad bought by households in Iceland | 0 (0%) | 1 (13%) | 6 (86%) | 7 |
| Other fields of activity | 43 (10%) | 15 (4%) | 355 (86%) | 413 |
| ¹For the time being, VAT-turnover is pubished excluding the pharmaceutical industry. Data validation is ongoing. | ||||
Revision of statistics
At the time of our previous press release, in March, the VAT turnover, excluding the pharmaceutical industry, in November to December 2017 was estimated 760.4 billion ISK which was an increase of 8.7% compared with the same period in 2016. At present, more data are available and the VAT turnover in November to December 2017 is estimated 763.7 billion ISK which is an increase of 9.2% compared with the same period in 2016.
Other statistics on business economy
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