The number of immigrants in Iceland dropped by 0.1 percentage points to 8.0 percent of the population in January 2012. The latest data from Statistics Iceland also shows that while the number of immigrants dropped slightly, to 24,442, the number of second-generation immigrants rose from 2,582 to 2,876.
Photo by Páll Kjartansson.
Expats from Poland, 9,228 individuals or 36.3 percent, are the largest group of immigrants by country. Those born in Lithuania and the Philippines follow with 1,421 and 1,363 respectively.
The number of male immigrants per 1,000 female immigrants dropped to 920. The gender ratio has fluctuated in recent years. In 1996 there were 607 males per 1,000 females and in 2007 there were 1,353 males per 1,000 females.
The highest proportion of immigrants is in the West Fjords where 13.4 percent of the population is comprised of first and second-generation immigrants.
Northeast Iceland is home to the lowest proportion of immigrants with 4.8 percent of the population born abroad or to parents born abroad.
ZR
