Net external migration in Iceland in 2020 was 2,435 compared with 4,961 last year. The number of immigrants was 10,429 in 2020 compared with 12,006 in 2019. At the same time the number of emigrants rose from 7,045 to 7,994.
Denmark the most popular country of destination for Icelandic citizens
Of the 2,161 Icelandic citizens who emigrated in 2020, a total of 1,360 migrated to Norway, Denmark or Sweden. Most of them emigrated to Denmark, or 730. These countries were also the major countries of origin for immigrating Icelandic citizens as 1,594 out of 2,718 immigrants came from these countries.
Most of the foreign citizens emigrating from Iceland migrated to Poland, or 1,958 out of 5,833. Poland was also the largest contributor of immigrants with foreign citizenship, 1,966 persons out of 7,711 foreign immigrants.
Most frequent age of emigrants 26 years
The largest age group among those who emigrated or immigrated in 2020 was 20–29 years old, or 39%. However, the modal age of emigrants was 26 years (406) and the modal age of immigrants was equal between 25 and 26 years, or 467.
Most positive internal migration in the South region
When only considering internal migration between regions in the year 2020, the South had the most positive internal migration (161), followed by the Capital region which had a positive internal migration of 62. The West region had the most negative internal migration (-90) closely followed by the East region (-73) and the Westfjords (-81). The Northeast region was the only region which had a negative external migration in the year 2020, or -50. When considering external migration, the Capital region experienced the most positive migration or 1,891, followed by the South region (410). Three of the country’s regions experienced negitive net migration in 2020, the Northeast region, the Westfjords and the West region, while the other’s experienced positive net migration.
Statistics
Internal migration
External migration