Iceland
Destination country · migration, permits and visas
- Inflow of foreign nationals, 2023 (OECD)
- 16,589
- Largest group, 2023
- Poland
- First residence permits, 2025 (Eurostat)
- 3,057
- Schengen visa refusal rate, 2024
- 6.5%
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Who moves to Iceland
Inflows of foreign nationals recorded by Iceland, by nationality (OECD).
All inflows by year
Data table
| 2000 | 2,293 |
| 2001 | 2,354 |
| 2002 | 1,754 |
| 2003 | 1,273 |
| 2004 | 2,450 |
| 2005 | 4,556 |
| 2006 | 7,008 |
| 2007 | 9,284 |
| 2008 | 7,432 |
| 2009 | 3,359 |
| 2010 | 2,960 |
| 2011 | 2,722 |
| 2012 | 3,302 |
| 2013 | 4,348 |
| 2014 | 4,771 |
| 2015 | 5,519 |
| 2016 | 8,585 |
| 2017 | 12,472 |
| 2018 | 12,452 |
| 2019 | 10,703 |
| 2020 | 8,922 |
| 2021 | 9,980 |
| 2022 | 16,969 |
| 2023 | 16,589 |
Foreign nationals living in Iceland
Stock of foreign nationals by nationality (latest year reported) and acquisitions of Iceland's nationality (OECD).
- Poland22,690
- Lithuania4,602
- Ukraine3,581
- Romania3,382
- Latvia2,294
- Portugal1,640
- Spain1,520
- Germany1,425
- Venezuela1,384
- Philippines1,333
- United States1,012
- Croatia989
- Vietnam954
- United Kingdom895
- Czechia887
- Poland156
- Thailand40
- Vietnam32
- Philippines32
- United Kingdom22
- Russia21
- Syria17
- Spain17
- United States17
- Latvia16
- Iran14
- Sweden13
- Albania12
- Germany11
- Lithuania11
Acquisitions of nationality by year
Data table
| 2000 | 279 |
| 2001 | 344 |
| 2002 | 331 |
| 2003 | 424 |
| 2004 | 560 |
| 2005 | 630 |
| 2006 | 730 |
| 2007 | 642 |
| 2008 | 888 |
| 2009 | 715 |
| 2010 | 435 |
| 2011 | 349 |
| 2012 | 387 |
| 2013 | 561 |
| 2014 | 538 |
| 2015 | 765 |
| 2016 | 672 |
| 2017 | 614 |
| 2018 | 544 |
| 2019 | 429 |
| 2020 | 390 |
| 2021 | 900 |
| 2022 | 691 |
| 2023 | 642 |
International migrants
People living in Iceland who were born in another country, or who hold foreign citizenship where country of birth is not recorded: mid-year estimates (UN DESA).
International migrants by year
Data table
| 1990 | 9,584 |
| 1995 | 12,738 |
| 2000 | 15,892 |
| 2005 | 25,492 |
| 2010 | 35,091 |
| 2015 | 39,072 |
| 2020 | 65,424 |
| 2024 | 98,818 |
- International migrants, 2024
- 98,818
- Share of the population, 2024
- 25.1%
- Counted by
- country of birth
Migrants in the labour market
Labour force survey results for Iceland: residents aged 15 and over who were born abroad, compared with those born in the country (ILOSTAT).
| Indicator | Born in the country | Born abroad |
|---|---|---|
| Employment-to-population ratio, 2025 | 70.3% | 79.0% |
| Unemployment rate, 2025 | 3.2% | 8.1% |
- Born abroad: share of all workers, 2025
- 24.7%
- Born abroad: share of high-skill jobs, 2025
- 18.9%
- Born abroad: share of medium-skill jobs, 2025
- 29.0%
- Born abroad: share of elementary jobs, 2025
- 47.1%
Earnings by occupation
Mean gross annual earnings of employees in Iceland by major occupation group, in enterprises with 10 or more employees (Eurostat, Structure of Earnings Survey 2022).
| Occupation group | Mean annual earnings, ISK | Index, all occupations = 100 |
|---|---|---|
| All occupations | 11,122,566 | 100 |
| Managers | 16,978,523 | 153 |
| Professionals | 12,118,270 | 109 |
| Technicians and associate professionals | 11,608,362 | 104 |
| Clerical support workers | 8,812,719 | 79 |
| Service and sales workers | 9,559,026 | 86 |
| Craft and related trades workers | 12,002,465 | 108 |
| Plant and machine operators and assemblers | 10,938,928 | 98 |
| Elementary occupations | 8,959,526 | 81 |
- Mean gross annual earnings, all employees, 2022
- 11,122,566 ISK
- Women's mean earnings as a share of men's, 2022
- 85.2%
Residence permits
First residence permits issued by Iceland to non-EU citizens (Eurostat).
First permits by year
Data table
| 2008 | 966 |
| 2009 | 852 |
| 2010 | 985 |
| 2011 | 840 |
| 2012 | 940 |
| 2013 | 982 |
| 2014 | 966 |
| 2015 | 1,132 |
| 2016 | 1,460 |
| 2017 | 1,595 |
| 2018 | 1,922 |
| 2019 | 2,101 |
| 2020 | 2,040 |
| 2021 | 2,316 |
| 2022 | 3,389 |
| 2023 | 3,563 |
| 2024 | 3,217 |
| 2025 | 3,057 |
- Family1,271
- Education754
- Other reasons573
- Work459
- Other paid activities251
- Highly skilled workers (national schemes)207
- Researchers1
- Valid residence permits, 31 Dec 2025
- 16,863
- Long-term residence permits issued, 2025
- 1,236
- Changed status into work, 2025
- 78
Schengen visas issued by Iceland
Short-stay visa applications at Iceland's consulates worldwide.
Applications by year
Data table
| 2009 | 493 |
| 2010 | 562 |
| 2011 | 636 |
| 2012 | 1,088 |
| 2013 | 2,821 |
| 2014 | 3,923 |
| 2015 | 3,987 |
| 2016 | 5,771 |
| 2017 | 7,610 |
| 2018 | 9,334 |
| 2019 | 18,183 |
| 2020 | 2,552 |
| 2021 | 2,735 |
| 2022 | 7,715 |
| 2023 | 22,541 |
| 2024 | 35,413 |
| Country of the consulate | Applications 2024 | Refusal rate |
|---|---|---|
| China | 18,452 | 1.8% |
| United States | 6,196 | 5.5% |
| United Kingdom | 5,508 | 14.3% |
| India | 5,257 | 15.9% |
Iceland's embassies and consulates abroad
Countries in which Iceland has an embassy or consulate, as recorded in Wikidata.
| Country | Embassies | Consulates-general | Consulates |
|---|---|---|---|
| Austria | 1 | — | — |
| Belarus | — | — | 1 |
| Belgium | 1 | — | — |
| Canada | 1 | — | — |
| China | 1 | — | — |
| Finland | 1 | — | — |
| France | 1 | — | — |
| Germany | 1 | — | — |
| Greenland | — | 1 | — |
| India | 1 | — | — |
| Japan | 1 | — | — |
| Malawi | 1 | — | — |
| Norway | 1 | — | — |
| Poland | 1 | — | — |
| Sweden | 1 | — | — |
| Uganda | 1 | — | — |
| United Kingdom | 1 | — | — |
| United States | 1 | — | — |
- Countries
- 18
- Missions
- 18
Remittances sent abroad
Personal remittances paid from Iceland to other countries, in current US dollars (World Bank).
Remittances paid by year, US$ million
Data table
| 2000 | 23 |
| 2001 | 14 |
| 2002 | 21 |
| 2003 | 19 |
| 2004 | 28 |
| 2005 | 136 |
| 2006 | 209 |
| 2007 | 376 |
| 2008 | 264 |
| 2009 | 81 |
| 2010 | 75 |
| 2011 | 86 |
| 2012 | 90 |
| 2013 | 97 |
| 2014 | 103 |
| 2015 | 139 |
| 2016 | 247 |
| 2017 | 501 |
| 2018 | 533 |
| 2019 | 449 |
| 2020 | 322 |
| 2021 | 376 |
| 2022 | 457 |
| 2023 | 569 |
| 2024 | 643 |
| 2025 | 750 |
- Remittances paid, 2025
- US$750 million
Corridors into Iceland
Nationalities with a dedicated corridor page.
- Poland → Iceland
- China → Iceland
- Ukraine → Iceland
- United States → Iceland
- Romania → Iceland
- United Kingdom → Iceland
- India → Iceland
- Lithuania → Iceland
Official data, not advice. Visa Atlas publishes figures from government registers and statistics. It does not assess eligibility or give immigration advice; for advice, consult a regulated adviser. Read more