More than half of women aged 25–64 had tertiary education compared with just over third of men at the same age in 2017. Around 56% of women and 43% of men in the capital region had tertiary education but 41% of women and 20% of men in other regions. On the other hand 39% of men and 26% of women in the capital region had upper and post-secondary education compared with 47% of men and 29% of women in other regions. The share of people with compulsory education only was roughly twice as high outside the capital region as in it.
In 2017 the labour force participation rate was 79% for women and 86% for men. The unadjusted gender pay gap was 16% in 2016 but 14% for full-time employees. Women are now 38% of elected members of the Althingi and 44% of local government members but their share in many other positions of influence is lower. Of the eight judges in the Supreme Court one is a woman but women´s share among district judges was 43% in 2017. The proportion of women as managers of enterprises varies by size, e.g. it was 22% in enterprises with 1-49 employees but 10% where the number was 250 or more in 2016. The share of women on boards of directors was 26–39% by size of enterprise.
Statistics Iceland has published the leaflet Women and Men in Iceland 2018 in cooperation with the Centre for Gender Equality and The Ministry of Welfare. The leaflet has information on the status of women and men in the community. In figures and diagrams it covers information on population, media, education, labour market, wages and income and positions of influence. The leaflet is published both in Icelandic and English.
Key figures on women and men have been updated as well. They give an idea of various statistics by gender available on Statistics Iceland’s website.
Women and Men in Iceland 2018 - leaflet