According to VAT-reports turnover has increased in most economic activities from January-February 2022 to January-February 2023. However, in some economic activities the increase in turnover was not on par with the inflation as the consumer price index rose by 10% in this period.
In the manufacture of basic metals, turnover decreased by 5% from January-February 2022 to the same period in 2023. However, turnover increased much in this activity during 2021 and 2022.
Many service activities, e.g. the tourism industry, are recovering after the Covid-19 pandemic and their turnover in January-February 2023 is considerably higher than in January-February 2022. Activities in production and trade were less affected by the pandemic. The 39% rise in the turnover of construction can be at least partially explained by more production as the number of persons receiving wages in this economic activity increased by 13% from January-February to the same period in 2023.
Revision of statistics
At the time of our press release on 15 December 2022, the VAT-turnover excluding agriculture and forestry, in November-December 2022 was estimated 1,151.9 billion ISK which was an increase of 11.3% compared with the same period in 2021. At present, more data are available and the turnover is estimated 1,157.1 billion ISK, an increase of 11.8%.
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. Data on turnover should be evaluated in a larger context, taking into account other economic indicators, e.g. trends in external trade, employment and labour costs.
Statistics
The tourism industry
All economic activities