In the third quarter of 2025, libraries lent from their collections to about 16% of residents in Iceland. This share was similar to the same quarter a year earlier, when it was 16.4%. These figures are among new statistics from Statistics Iceland on library borrowers for the period 2023–2025.
Young readers
The share of library borrowers by age was highest among those aged 17 and under, at 44.5% and lowest among those aged 25–39, at about 6.4% in the third quarter of 2025. In contrast, when looking at the average number of loans by borrower age, borrowers aged 17 and under had on average about 5.6 loans in the third quarter, while borrowers aged 25–39 had on average just over 9 loans.
Fewer borrowers outside the capitol area
Compared with residents of Reykjavík (15.3%) and residents in the Capital region outside Reykjavík (18.0%), the share of borrowers was lowest in areas outside the Capital region, where 15.1% had borrowed material from a library in the third quarter of 2025. Just under 12% of males outside the Capital region borrowed material from a library in the third quarter, compared with just under 19% of females in the same areas and just over 13% of non-binary/other.
Immigrants less likely to be borrowers.
Just over 5% of immigrants borrowed material from a library in the third quarter of 2025, a decrease from the same time a year earlier, when the share was 5.7%. By comparison, 18.7% of residents with an Icelandic background borrowed material from a library in the third quarter of 2025.
About the data
Information on loans is sourced from the Consortium of Icelandic Libraries and linked to Statistics Iceland’s quarterly population data. A loan is defined as the registration of a specific item as lent to a borrower on a given date.