During the 12 month period from March 2016 to February 2017, the average total number of employers in Iceland was 16,947 and the average number of employees was 181,300. This is an increase of 210 (1.3%) employers and 8,300 (4.8%) employees compared to the period from March 2015 to February 2016.
It should be noted that these figures do not include information on the self-employed with calculated remuneration, a setup common in construction, agriculture and creative industries.
| Table 1. Number of employers and employees in selected activities¹ | |||||
| Employers | Employees February | ||||
| February | |||||
| 2017 | 2016 | 2017 | Change | % | |
| All activities | 16,337 | 170,000 | 176,000 | 6,000 | 4 |
| Fisheries | 459 | 9,400 | 7,800 | -1,600 | -17 |
| Manufacturing except fish processing | 1,019 | 16,200 | 16,500 | 300 | 2 |
| Construction | 2,423 | 9,200 | 10,700 | 1,500 | 17 |
| Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles | 2,283 | 25,100 | 25,900 | 800 | 3 |
| Financial and insurance activities | 376 | 6,200 | 6,200 | 0 | 0 |
| Public administration, compulsory social security and education | 551 | 39,200 | 39,500 | 300 | 1 |
| Human health and social work activities | 1,073 | 15,100 | 15,600 | 400 | 3 |
| Tourism industries | 1,558 | 20,500 | 23,400 | 2,900 | 14 |
| High technology manufacturing and services | 864 | 12,500 | 12,500 | 0 | 0 |
| Creative industries | 1,489 | 9,100 | 9,100 | 0 | 0 |
| ¹ A detailed description of theese activities can be found in the metadata | |||||
Sources of error and revision of statistics
The aforementioned figures are preliminary. Having income data as the source, there is a chance of underestimating the latest figures when employers do not submit their information in a timely manner. Other causes of error include reimbursement to former employees. When new data are published, previous figures are revised. For more information on how figures are revised, please refer to the metadata.
Statistics on employers and employees previously published have been revised, taking into account the latest available information on salaries and classification of employers based on economic activities.
The number of employers in December 2016 is now estimated as 17,758 and the total number of employees is estimated as 183,100. The number of employees increased by 9,300 (5.4%) from December 2015 to December 2016.
In February 2017, the number of employers and employees in December 2016 were estimated as 16.914 and 182,100, respectively. The number of employees had previously been estimated to have increased by 8,300 (4.8%) from December 2015 to December 2016.
Other statistics on business economy
Statistics Iceland publishes annual income and balance statements of enterprises by activity, based on tax returns, providing a detailed picture of the individual sectors. The latest income statement and balance sheet.
Statistics Iceland conducts a labour force survey (LFS) continuously. The main results (e.g. unemployment) are published monthly and more detailed results (number of full time employees, working hours by industry etc.) are published annually. The labour force survey provides information about both self-employed, and only people who are permanently living in Iceland are included in the sample. Hence, it should be expected that the LFS-figures are not the same as published in this press release. Data on the number of employers and employees should be used mainly as short-time indicators and to provide information on the within-year variations.