Xifres de comerç exterior d'Islàndia

Foreign Trade in Figures

Iceland has always been open to international trade, which represents 69.2% of GDP (World Bank). Most of the restrictions on foreign exchange transactions and the cross-border movement of domestic and foreign currency for both businesses and households were lifted in order to stimulate foreign trade. The main barriers to trade and market entries are the increasing adoption of EU product standards and regulations, high tariffs on most agricultural products from outside the EU, restrictions on import of some products, such as raw meat; due to phytosanitary regulations and difficulty in obtaining financing for joint ventures. Traditional sectors such as fishing stimulate the dynamism of the country's exports. More than 40% of the national exports are fishing products. Iceland also exports aluminium and ferrosilicon (around one-third of total exports), as well as dairy products. Main imports are artificial corundum, motor cars, and petroleum oils other than crude.

Iceland's main customers are the Netherlands (20.3% of total exports), Spain (17.3%), the United Kingdom (11.1%), and France (8.1%). Its main suppliers are Norway (9%), Germany (8.8%), China (8.4%), the Netherlands (7.8%), and Denmark (7.2%). The European Union absorbs more than two-thirds of Icelandic exports and it supplies around half of the total imports (the country is a member of the European Economic Area - EEA).

After becoming exceptionally positive during the global economic crisis, the trade balance of goods has been negative since 2014: in 2020, the country exported USD 4.5 billion worth of merchandise (-12.2% y-o-y), importing USD 5.7 billion (-13.2%). However, Iceland is a net service exporter (USD 2.7 billion of export vs. USD 2.21 billion of imports in 2020 – data by WTO). Following a contraction of almost 50% in services exports, the overall external balance for goods and services turned negative in 2020 (estimated at -0.7% of GDP by the World Bank).
As per the latest figures by Statistics Iceland, for the year 2021, the total value of exported goods was ISK 759.1 billion (up by 22.4% y-o-y), against a total value of imports of ISK 996.4 billion (+29.2%).