The largest proportion of immigrants in Iceland can be found in the Westfjords, with some communities comprised of up to 15% foreign nationals.
Iceland’s foreign national population as a whole makes up just over 6% of the population. Region to region, these percentages vary, but the Westfjords – where the fishing industry dominates – has been the biggest draw for those moving to Iceland in search of work.
Bæjarins Bestu reports that within the Westfjords, the number of immigrants can vary greatly from community to community. For the region as a whole, immigrants comprise about 9% of the total population. 9.62% of those who live in Ísafjörður, the region’s largest town, are foreign nationals.
The trend has been continuing upwards as well – today’s figures on the immigrant population for the whole region has risen some 0.4% over the past year.
The municipality with the greatest percentage of foreigners in the region – and possibly in the whole country – is Tálknafjörður. By 2010 figures, 299 people live in this town, and 45 of them are immigrants, putting their foreign national percentage at about 15%.
The rising influx and high proportion of immigrants does not seem to be affecting unemployment in the region. In fact, the Westfjords has the lowest unemployment rate in the country, at about 2%.
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