Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in Iceland

Iceland: Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment was 198.7 Persons in 2024. ▲ Rising

Latest (2024)
198.7 Persons
Change on year
up 4.3%
World rank
33rd
of 33 countries
All-time high
198.7 Persons
in 2024
All-time low
60.3 Persons
in 1964
Years of data
61
1964–2024

Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in Iceland, 1964–2024

50100150200196419942024

Source: Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Measured in Persons.

Analysis

In 2024, number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in Iceland stood at 198.7 Persons. That is the highest value across all 61 years on record.

Compared with earlier readings it is up 4.3% on the previous year and up 27.9% over ten years.

Over the whole period, number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in Iceland peaked at 198.7 Persons in 2024 and was at its lowest, 60.3 Persons, in 1964.

Iceland ranks 33rd of 33 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 61 years of available data.

Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in Iceland, year by year

Annual values for Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in Iceland, 1964 to 2024.
Year Persons Change
1964 60.3 Persons
1965 62.5 Persons +3.6%
1966 63.4 Persons +1.4%
1967 63.1 Persons -0.5%
1968 63.1 Persons +0.0%
1969 63.6 Persons +0.8%
1970 66.4 Persons +4.4%
1971 70.9 Persons +6.8%
1972 72.9 Persons +2.8%
1973 76 Persons +4.3%
1974 78.4 Persons +3.2%
1975 80.1 Persons +2.2%
1976 83.4 Persons +4.1%
1977 83.9 Persons +0.6%
1978 86.7 Persons +3.3%
1979 88.9 Persons +2.5%
1980 92.1 Persons +3.6%
1981 97.1 Persons +5.4%
1982 99.6 Persons +2.6%
1983 100.5 Persons +0.9%
1984 101.8 Persons +1.3%
1985 105.7 Persons +3.8%
1986 107.7 Persons +1.9%
1987 111.6 Persons +3.6%
1988 108.5 Persons -2.8%
1989 107 Persons -1.4%
1990 107 Persons +0.0%
1991 109.2 Persons +2.1%
1992 110.5 Persons +1.2%
1993 112 Persons +1.4%
1994 112.3 Persons +0.3%
1995 115 Persons +2.4%
1996 116.2 Persons +1.0%
1997 116.84 Persons +0.6%
1998 121.38 Persons +3.9%
1999 126.17 Persons +3.9%
2000 128.27 Persons +1.7%
2001 132.25 Persons +3.1%
2002 130.75 Persons -1.1%
2003 132.47 Persons +1.3%
2004 132.28 Persons -0.2%
2005 135.43 Persons +2.4%
2006 142.22 Persons +5.0%
2007 150.78 Persons +6.0%
2008 153.97 Persons +2.1%
2009 145.7 Persons -5.4%
2010 144 Persons -1.2%
2011 144.32 Persons +0.2%
2012 144.62 Persons +0.2%
2013 150.45 Persons +4.0%
2014 155.32 Persons +3.2%
2015 160.97 Persons +3.6%
2016 167.68 Persons +4.2%
2017 171.03 Persons +2.0%
2018 174.62 Persons +2.1%
2019 177.65 Persons +1.7%
2020 171.97 Persons -3.2%
2021 171.2 Persons -0.5%
2022 183.68 Persons +7.3%
2023 190.57 Persons +3.8%
2024 198.7 Persons +4.3%

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1960s 62.67 Persons 60.3 Persons 63.6 Persons 6
1970s 78.76 Persons 66.4 Persons 88.9 Persons 10
1980s 103.16 Persons 92.1 Persons 111.6 Persons 10
1990s 114.66 Persons 107 Persons 126.17 Persons 10
2000s 138.41 Persons 128.27 Persons 153.97 Persons 10
2010s 159.07 Persons 144 Persons 177.65 Persons 10
2020s 183.22 Persons 171.2 Persons 198.7 Persons 5

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 30 Finland 2,276 Persons compare
  2. 31 Costa Rica 1,633 Persons compare
  3. 32 Luxembourg 292.62 Persons compare

See the full ranking of 43 places →

More work & labour data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in Iceland?
Number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment in Iceland was 198.7 Persons in 2024, according to Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development.
What is the highest number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 198.7 Persons in 2024.
What is the lowest number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 60.3 Persons in 1964.
How does Iceland rank for number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment?
Iceland ranks 33rd out of 33 countries with data for 2024.
Is number of employees by activities (isic rev. 4) — employment rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is up 27.9%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland data come from?
The figures come from Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, published as part of Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

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Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment in Iceland. Statizoid, drawing on Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development. Retrieved 04 September 2026, from https://labour.statizoid.com/stat/number-of-employees-by-activities-isic-rev-4-employment/iceland/

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About this data

Indicator
Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4) — Employment
Unit
Persons
Source
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
Licence
OECD Terms and Conditions (attribution required)
Coverage
43 places, 2,002 data points, 1955–2025
Last refreshed

The dataflow "Number of employees by activities (ISIC Rev. 4)" is a subset of the “Employment by activites and status (ALFS)” dataset which presents annual labour force statistics for OECD member countries, Brazil and 4 geographical areas (Major Seven, Euro zone, European Union and OECD-Total). This dataflow shows the number of employees broken down by economic activities (ISIC Rev. 4). Economic activities are defined according to the Major divisions of the International standard International Classification (ISIC) Rev. 4 with the exception of the United-States wich compiled since 2003, employment data by sector following the North American Industrial Classification System (NAICS); NAICS sector are then proxied to ISIC Rev. 4 and are therefore not strictly comparable with other countries’ data. The professional status is defined in the International Classification by status in Employment (ICSE-1993). Data are presented in thousands of persons, or as indices with base year 2015=100. Annual data in this dataset are typically calculated as averages of infra-annual estimates. This can lead to differences with annual data published by National Statistics Institutes. Historical data of employment statistics defined according to ISIC Rev. 2 are also available from 1970 to 2014 Historical data of employment statistics defined according to ISIC Rev. 3 are available from 1983 to 2023. Data for Canada are currently only available in ISIC Rev. 3