Icelanders View Foreign Workers Positively

Icelanders are more tolerant towards foreign workers than many other nations, according to the results of a new Gallup poll.

Gallup recently polled a sample of the Icelandic populace for their opinions on foreign workers. RÚV reports that about 60% of respondents believe foreign workers are good for the country.

What makes the results significant is that, amongst respondents in 69 countries asked for their opinions on the subject, the majority of respondents in 42 countries had a negative opinion of foreign workers.

The pattern which emerged is that people living in poorer countries were more likely to view immigrant labour negatively. This trend is not a hard-and-fast rule. For example, the majority of respondents in France, Belgium and Holland had negative views of foreigners.

Overall, two countries demonstrated the greatest levels of tolerance towards foreign workers: China and Pakistan.