According to new data from Registers Iceland, almost 49,000 Icelanders have a registered legal residence outside Iceland. Denmark, Sweden, and Norway remain the most popular destinations among Icelanders.
The Nordic countries remain the most popular
On Wednesday, January 25, Registers Iceland published data on the number of Icelandic citizens living abroad (as of December 1, 2022). According to the data, 48,951 Icelanders live outside the country, or 13.2% of the total population. This figure has increased by more than five thousand over the period of a single year, Registers Iceland notes.
The Nordic countries remain the most popular destination for Icelanders: 62.1% of Icelandic citizens who have a registered legal domicile abroad are registered in the Nordic countries. 11,590 Icelanders currently reside in Denmark (or over 3% of the population), 9,278 in Norway, and 8,933 in Sweden. Approximately 30,000 Icelanders live in these three countries.
6,492 Icelanders live in the United States (which is followed by Great Britain, Germany, and Canada).
Only one registered Icelandic citizen in 15 countries
As noted by Registers Iceland, as of December 1, 2022, Icelanders had a registered legal residence in a total of 100 countries out of the 193 member states of the United Nations. The article also contains the following, interesting tidbit:
“It is interesting to note that 15 countries had only a single Icelandic citizen with a registered legal domicile. These are the countries Albania, Angola, Belize, Ecuador, Ghana, Guinea, India, Iran, Kenya, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Panama and Somalia.”
