The financial net worth of financial corporations sector in Iceland was positive at 665.9 billion ISK at the end of 2015, according to the latest data from Statistics Iceland. Compared to the negative financial net worth of 2,974 billion ISK at the end of 2014, the impact of the resolution of the ‘old banks’ balance sheets on the economy has been highly significant.
The financial assets of non-financial corporations decreased by 1.3% in nominal terms and stood at 4,869 billion ISK at the end of 2015. Financial liabilities were at the same time 8,584 billion ISK, declining by 3.89% between 2014 and 2015. The financial net worth of non-financial corporations was negative at 3,715 billion ISK, or 168% of GDP at the end of 2015.
The general government recorded a negative net worth at 1,158 billion ISK at the end of 2015, with a decrease in net worth of 19.7% from the previous year.
The financial net worth of households increased by 20.8% between 2014 and 2015 and stood at 3,249 billion ISK, or 146.7% of GDP, at the end of 2015. Total financial assets of households stood at 5,137 billion ISK, of which 75.3% were insurance technical reserves (mostly ownership of households in pension fund reserves), while total financial liabilities stood at 1,889 billion ISK at the end of 2015.
Total financial assets and liabilities of all resident sectors of the Icelandic economy (including non-financial and financial corporations, households, non-profit institutions serving households (NPISH) and the general government) stood at 28,234 billion ISK and 29,145 billion ISK respectively at the end of 2015. The foreign sector‘s total financial assets stood at 5,835 billion ISK in year-end 2015, decreasing by 38.1% between years. The financial net worth of the foreign sector was 919 billion ISK in year-end 2015, and had decreased by 82.3% from the previous year. This was largely on account of a decrease in financial assets of the foreign sector between the years on account of large write-offs in old banks.
Statistics Iceland now publishes revised financial accounts for Iceland. The data covers all assets and liabilities of the Icelandic economy, separated into sectors in accordance with international national accounting standards. The time series covers 2003-2015. It is worth noting that financial accounts for Iceland are in development.
Financial corporations in winding-up process (old banks) have had a significant impact on the financial accounts statistics of the economy over the past years. Now that they have been mostly wound up, we will have a clearer picture of the financial system going forward.
Next scheduled publication of financial accounts: September 2017
Financial accounts – further information on method and various classifications, see metadata.
Statistics