economy has
been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the
last decade, and new developments in software production,
biotechnology, and financial services are taking place. The tourism
sector is also expanding, with the recent trends in ecotourism and
whale watching. Growth had been remarkably steady in 1996–2001 at
3%-5%, but could not be sustained in 2002 in an environment of
global recession. Growth resumed in 2003, and inflation dropped back
from 5% to 2%.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $8.678 billion (2003 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.6% (2003 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $30,900 (2003 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 9.2% (includes fishing 12%) industry: 26.7% services: 64.2% (2003 est.)
Investment (gross fixed):
21.6% of GDP (2003)
Population below poverty line:
NA
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA
highest 10%: NA
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
2.1% (2003 est.)
Labor force:
160,000 (2003)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 5.1%, fishing and fish processing 11.8%, manufacturing
12.9%, construction 10.7%, services 59.5% (1999)
Unemployment rate:
3.4% (2003 est.)
Budget:
revenues: $4.205 billion
expenditures: $4.405 billion, including capital expenditures of $467
million (2003)
Public debt:
41.5% of GDP (2003)
Agriculture - products:
potatoes, green vegetables, mutton, dairy products, fish
Industries:
fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon production,
geothermal power; tourism
Industrial production growth rate:
8.1% (2003 est.)
Electricity - production:
7.894 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - consumption:
7.341 billion kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
0 kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
16,300 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
0 bbl/day (2001)
Oil - imports:
15,470 bbl/day (2001)
Current account balance:
$-574 million (2003)
Exports:
$2.379 billion f.o.b. (2003 est.)
Exports - commodities:
fish and fish products 70%, animal products, aluminum, diatomite,
ferrosilicon
Exports - partners:
Germany 17.4%, UK 17.4%, Netherlands 11.2%, US 9.8%, Spain 6.3%,
Denmark 5%, Norway 4.5%, France 4% (2003)
Imports:
$2.59 billion (2003 est.)
Imports - commodities:
machinery and equipment, petroleum products; foodstuffs, textiles
Imports - partners:
Germany 11.8%, Denmark 8%, US 7.5%, UK 7.5%, Norway 7%, Sweden
6.5%, Netherlands 6.2%, Italy 4.7% (2003)
Reserves of foreign exchange & gold:
$818.7 million (2003)
Debt - external:
$2.6 billion (1999)
Economic aid - donor:
NA
Currency:
Icelandic krona (ISK)
Currency code:
ISK
Exchange rates:
Icelandic kronur per US dollar - 76.709 (2003), 91.6617 (2002),
97.4246 (2001), 78.6159 (2000), 72.3353 (1999)
Fiscal year:
calendar year
Communications Iceland
Telephones - main lines in use:
190,700 (2003)
Telephones - mobile cellular:
279,100 (2003)
Telephone system:
general assessment: extensive domestic service
domestic: the trunk network consists of coaxial and fiber-optic
cables and microwave radio relay links
international: country code - 354; satellite earth stations - 2
Intelsat (Atlantic Ocean), 1 Inmarsat (Atlantic and Indian Ocean
regions); note - Iceland shares the Inmarsat earth station with the
other Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Norway, and Sweden)
Radio broadcast stations:
AM 3, FM about 70 (including repeaters), shortwave 1 (1998)
Radios:
260,000 (1997)
Television broadcast stations:
14 (plus 156 low-power repeaters) (1997)
Televisions:
98,000 (1997)
Internet country code:
.is
Internet hosts:
122,175 (2004)
Internet Service Providers (ISPs):
20 (2001)
Internet users:
195,000 (2003)
Transportation Iceland
Highways:
total: 12,955 km
paved/oiled gravel: 3,863 km
unpaved: 9,092 km (2003)
Ports and harbors:
Akureyri, Hornafjordhur, Isafjordhur, Keflavik, Raufarhofn,
Reykjavik, Seydhisfjordhur, Straumsvik, Vesttmannaeyjar
Merchant marine:
total: 1 ships (1,000 GRT or over) 4,341 GRT/6,019 DWT
registered in other countries: 26 (2004 est.)
by type: petroleum tanker