The population of Iceland was 364,134 on 1 January 2020 and grew by 2.0% (7,143 individuals) from the previous year according to a new issue in the Statistical Series on population development in 2019 published by Statistics Iceland.
The population increased in all eight regions in 2019. The South region gained proportionally the most (3.9%), followed by the Southwest (2.6%) and the Capital region (2.1%).
Life births in Iceland were 4,452 in 2019, 2,267 boys and 2,185 girls, and increased from the previous year when 4,228 children were born. The total fertility rate in 2019 was 1.745, which is slightly higher than in 2018 (1.707).
In 2019, 2,275 individuals died in Iceland, 1,157 men and 1,118 women. The mortality rate was 6.3 per 1,000 inhabitants and the infant mortality rate was 1.1 per 1,000 life births. In 2019, the life expectancy at birth in Iceland was 81.0 years for men and 84.2 years for women.
The highest proportion of immigrants ever
There were 4,961 more immigrants than emigrants in 2019, 2,974 men and 1,987 women. The net migration of Icelandic citizens was -175 individuals.
The dependency ratio was 64.9% 1 January 2020, same as in the previous year. The dependency ratio is calculated as the ratio of the young and old age population relative to the working age population (defined as 20–64 years of age).
Immigrants represented 15.2% of the population 1 January 2020, the highest proportion ever. The number of immigrants was 55,354 and 37.0% were Polish citizens. The number of second generation immigrants rose from 5,263 in 2019 to 5,684 in 2020.
The number of nuclear families, i.e. couples with or without children under the age of 18 years or parents with children under 18 years, was 84,668 1 January 2020, compared with 83,358 families in the previous year.
Population development 2019 — Statistical Series