More Icelanders Leaving Than Coming Home

New data from Statistics Iceland shows that Icelanders leaving Iceland outnumber those returning home. At the same time, the population increased by just over 1,400 during the last quarter of 2015.

RÚV reports that the current population of Iceland is 332,750, with men slightly outnumbering women. About 160 more Icelandic nationals left the country during this quarter than those who returned. During this same period, 1,140 more foreign nationals moved to Iceland than moved away.

Most Icelanders returning home did so from other Scandinavian countries, and these were also the destination countries for most Icelanders who left. Where foreign nationals are concerned, most of those who moved to Iceland came from Poland, followed by Lithuania. In total, 26,690 foreign nationals currently reside in Iceland.

Whether moving away from or moving to Iceland, people aged 20 to 29 comprised the greatest share of those changing the demographics of Iceland.