During the 12 month period from February 2017 to January 2018, the average total number of employers in Iceland was 17,644 and the average number of employees was 189,200. This is an increase of 648 (3.8%) employers and 8,400 (4.7%) employees compared with the period from February 2016 to January 2017.
During the last few years, there has been a decrease in the number of employees in fisheries, i.e. in fishing and fish processing. In the beginning of 2017 there was a strike in fishing, leading to a temporary decrease in the number of employees. Hence, comparing the number of employees in fisheries in January 2018 with the same month the previous year does not yield a just comparison. There was an 8% decrease in the number of employees in fisheries from January 2016 to January 2018.
In January 2018, there were 2,552 employers and about 12,400 employees in construction, and the number of employees increased by 1,300 (12%) compared with January 2017. Similarly, there were 1,686 employers and about 24,600 employees in activities related to tourism in January 2018, the number of employees having increased by 900 (4%) compared with January 2017. During this 12 month period, the total number of employees increased by 7,000 (4%).
It should be noted that these figures do not include information on the self-employed with calculated remuneration, a setup common in construction, agriculture and creative industries.
| Table 1. Number of employers and employees in selected activities¹ | |||||
| Employers | Employees January | ||||
| Jan. 2018 | 2017 | 2018 | Change | % | |
| All activities | 16,774 | 176,100 | 183,000 | 7,000 | 4 |
| Manufacturing except fish processing (NACE no. 10-33 except 102) | 1,037 | 16,500 | 16,800 | 400 | 2 |
| Construction (NACE no. 41-43) | 2,552 | 11,100 | 12,400 | 1,300 | 12 |
| Wholesale and retail trade and repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles (NACE no. 45) | 476 | 3,300 | 3,400 | 100 | 3 |
| Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles (NACE no. 46) | 951 | 8,700 | 8,900 | 200 | 2 |
| Retail trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles (NACE no. 47) | 833 | 14,600 | 15,100 | 400 | 3 |
| Public administration, compulsory social security and education (NACE no. 84-85) | 572 | 39,100 | 40,300 | 1,200 | 3 |
| Human health and social work activities (NACE no. 86-88) | 1,105 | 15,700 | 16,300 | 600 | 4 |
| Tourism industries (NACE no. 491, 4932, 4939, 501, 503, 511, 551-553, 561, 563, 771, 7721, 79) | 1,686 | 23,700 | 24,600 | 900 | 4 |
| High technology manufacturing and services (NACE no. 20, 254, 26-30, 325, 53, 58, 60-63, 72) | 885 | 12,900 | 13,000 | 100 | 1 |
| Creative industries (NACE no. 3212, 58-60, 6201-6202, 7021, 7111, 731, 741-743, 8552, 90, 9101-9102) | 1,538 | 9,100 | 8,700 | -400 | -5 |
| ¹ A detailed description of theese activities can be found in the metadata | |||||
Causes of error and revision of statistics
The aforementioned figures are preliminary. Having income data as the source, there is a risk of underestimating the latest figures when employers do not submit information in a timely manner. Other causes of error include reimbursement to former employees. When new data are published, previous figures are revised. For more information on how figures are revised and the magnitude of recent revisions, please refer to the metadata and the summary of revisions.
Previously published statistics on employers and employees have been revised, taking into account the latest available information on salaries and classification of employers based on their main economic activities.
The number of employers in December 2017 is now estimated as 18,423 and the total number of employees is estimated as 190,700. The number of employees increased by 8,000 (4.4%) from December 2016 to December 2017.
In February, the number of employers and employees in December 2017 was estimated as 18,138 and 190,100, respectively. The number of employees was then estimated to have increased by 7,500 (4.1%) from December 2016 to December 2017.
Other statistics on business economy
Statistics Iceland publishes annual income and balance statements of enterprises by activity, based on tax returns, providing a detailed picture of the individual sectors for the period 2002-2016.
Statistics Iceland conducts a continuous labour force survey (LFS). The main results (e.g. unemployment) are published monthly and more detailed results (number of full time employees, working hours by industry etc.) are published annually. The labour force survey provides information on both employees and self-employed, and only people who are permanently living in Iceland are included in the sample. Hence, the LFS-figures are not the same as published in this press release. Data on the number of employers and employees should be used mainly as short-time indicators and to provide information on within-year variations.
Statistics:
Activities related to tourism
All economic activities