The main results of the labour market survey of Statistics Iceland for the fourth quarter of 2025 show that an average of 233,600 people aged 16 to 74 were in the labour force. Of these, 221,800 were employed and 11,800 were unemployed and actively seeking work. The activity rate was 80.0%, the employment rate was 76.0% and the unemployment rate was 5.0% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, 102,300 women were employed, or 72.3%, while 119,500 men were employed, or 79.4%. On average, 200,400 persons were at work in the reference week of the quarter, representing 90.4% of employed persons and 68.7% of the total population aged 16 to 74. The average number of total working hours per week was 35.8 hours among those who were at work in the reference week, 40.5 hours among those in full-time employment, and 22.2 hours for those in part-time employment.
Compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, the number of employed people decreased by 2,000, and the employment rate decreased by 1.7 percentage points. The number of employed women increased by 1,200, while employed men decreased by 3,200. Despite the number of employed women increased year on year, their employment rate declined slightly or by 0.2 percentage points while the employment rate for men decreased by 3.2 percentage points.
Of those employed in the fourth quarter of 2025, an estimated 164,400 were in full‑time employment, or 74.1%, while around 57,400 were in part‑time employment, or 25.9%. The number of persons in full‑time employment decreased by 4,200 compared with the fourth quarter of 2024, and their share of total employment decreased by 1.2 percentage points. Among employed women, 65.4% were in full‑time employment in the fourth quarter, compared with 81.5% of employed men. Of those in part‑time employment, approximately 11,500 persons were considered underemployed, or 5.2% of all employed. In the same quarter of 2024, 4.1% were underemployed, or 9,100 persons. The definition of underemployed are those who work part-time and want to work more.
Average working hours
In the fourth quarter of 2025, the average working hours were measured 35.8 hours for those who were were at work in the reference week. For comparison, the average number of working hours was 36.5 hours in the fourth quarter of 2024, meaning the average weekly working hours decreased just under one hour per week. In the fourth quarter of 2025, women worked an average of 32.7 hours per week, while men worked 38.4 hours. In the same quarter of 2024, women worked an average of 33.2 hours and men 39.1 hours.
The unemployment rate was five percent
In the fourth quarter of 2025, an average of 11,800 persons were unemployed, or 5.0% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74. The unemployment rate measured at 5.7% among women and 4.4% among men. For comparison, around 6,800 persons were unemployed in the fourth quarter of 2024, and their share of the labour force was considerably lower, at 2.9%. At that time, the unemployment rate was the same for both women and men.
Within the age group 16 to 24, the unemployment rate was 10.1%, compared with 8.6% in the same quarter of 2024. In the age group 25 to 54 years, unemployment measured 4.9%, which is an increase of 3.2 percentage points from the fourth quarter of 2024. Among the oldest age group, 55 to 74 years, the unemployment rate was 1.7%, compared with 2.4% in the fourth quarter of the previous year.
The Icelandice Labour Force Survey
Since 2003, the Labour Market Survey has been conducted continuously in every week of the year. In each quarter, the sample consists of just over 5,000 persons, distributed evenly across the 13 weeks of the quarter. The survey population includes all Icelandic and foreign citizens aged 16 to 74 who are registered in the Population Register, have legal residence in Iceland, and are living in the country during the reference week of the survey. The sample is selected by simple random sampling.
In the fourth quarter of 2025, 5,377 individuals met these criteria and were included in the final sample, corresponding to 1.8% of the population. A total of 2,616 persons responded to the survey, yielding a participation rate of 49.0%. The response rate among women was 49.4%, while the response rate among men was 48.6%.