Landshagir - 01.11.2014, Page 31

Population
LANDSHAGIR 2018 STATISTICAL YEARBOOK OF ICELAND 2018
1
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Statistics Iceland provides detailed infor-
mation on the resident population in
Iceland 1 January each year. Figures for
the population on 1 December and prelim-
inary quarterly figures, including main
demographic events, are also published.
Figures on changes in the demographic
characteristics of the Icelandic population
are published yearly, e.g. information on
marriages, consensual unions, divorces,
births, deaths, adoptions, changes in resi-
dence, in citizenship and religious affilia-
tion.
A population increase by 1.2%
The total population 1 January 2014 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 Westfjords which lost 0.8%
of its population in 2014 and in the North-
west which lost 0.4%. Six regions experi-
enced a population increase. The region
Southwest gained most proportionally
(1.7%) with a population increase of 354.
The dependency ratio
The dependency ratio was 68.4% 1 January
2014, 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.
Number of immigrants exceeds the number of
emigrants for the first time since 2008
Net external migration was 1,598 in 2013
compared with -319 in 2012. The number
of immigrants was 7,071 in 2013 compared
with 5,957 in 2012. At the same time the
number of emigrants declined from 6,276
in 2012 to 5,473 in 2013.
Nine municipalities with more than
5,000 inhabitants
The number of municipalities 1 January
2014 was 74, same as the previous year. Six
municipalities have fewer than 100 inhab-
itants and 42 have fewer than 1,000 inhab-
itants. Only nine municipalities had more
than 5,000 inhabitants.
Fertility rate decreased in 2013
Live births in Iceland were 4,326 in 2013,
2,129 boys and 2,197 girls, 969 boys for
every 1,000 girls. This is a decrease in the
number of births from the previous year
when 4,533 children were born. The total
fertility rate was 1.93, compared with 2.04
in 2012.