The total population 1 January 2013 was 325,671 compared with 321,857 in 2013. This constitutes an increase of 1.2%. The population declined in two regions, primarily in the Northwest which lost 0.8% of its population in 2014. Six regions experienced a population increase. The region Suðurnes gained most proportionally (1.7%) where the population increased by 354 persons.
The number of municipalities 1 January 2014 was 74, same as the previous year. Six municipalities have fewer than 100 inhabitants and 42 have fewer than 1,000 inhabitants. Only nine municipalities had more than 5,000 inhabitants.
The dependency ratio was 68.4% 1 January 2013, a slight decrease from previous year when it was 68.6%. The dependency ratio is calculated as the ratio of the young and old to the working age population of 20–64 years of age.
The number of nuclear families, i.e. couples with or without children under the age of 18 years or single parents with children under 18 years, was 78,780 on 1 January 2014, compared with 78,168 families in 2013.
Methods
A new definition of localities and urban nuclei has been introduced, in alignment with international recommendations, especially that of the Commission Regulation (EC) No 1201/2009 implementing Regulation (EC) No 763/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council on population and housing censuses as regards the technical specifications of the topics and of their breakdowns.
As previously announced, mid-year population figures have been replaced by annual average population figures. Those are calculated simply by averaging the start figures of two adjacent years.
Statistics:
Municipalities
Dependency ratio
Nuclear families
Urban nuclei
Religious organisations