The main findings of the labour force survey by Statistics Iceland for the second quarter of 2025 show that an average of 238,900 people aged 16 to 74 were in the labour force. Of these, 230,500 were employed and 8,500 were unemployed and seeking work. The activity rate was 82.7%, the employment rate 79.8% and the unemployment rate was 3.5% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74.
In the second quarter of 2025, 108,100 women were employed, or 77.3%, while 122,400 men were employed, or 82.1%. On average, 203,300 people were working each week of the quarter, or 87.1% of the employed population and 70.4% of the total population aged 16 to 74. The average number of total working hours per week was 35.2 hours for those who were working during the reference week, 38.8 hours for those in full-time employment and 21.8 hours for those in part-time employment.
Compared with the second quarter of 2024, the number of employed people remained almost unchanged, but the employment rate decreased slightly, or just over one percentage point. The number of employed women increased by six hundred, while the number of employed men decreased by eight hundred. The employment rate for women decreased by 0.3 percentage points, while the rate for men decreased by 2.1 percentage points.
Of those employed in the second quarter of 2025, about 177,100 were in full-time employment, or 76.8%, and about 53,400 were in part-time employment, or 23.2%. The number of persons in full-time employment decreased by 2,000 compared with the second quarter of 2024, but their proportion of the total employed increased by 0.9 percentage points. Among employed women, 66.2% were in full-time employment in the second quarter, compared with 86.2% of employed men. Of those in part-time employment, around 8,700 people were considered underemployed, or 3.8%, of all employed. In the same quarter of 2024, 4.6% were underemployed, corresponding to 10,600 persons. The definition of underemployed are those who work part-time and want to work more.
Average working hours
In the second quarter of 2025, the average working hours were measured 35.2 hours for those who were were at work in the reference week. In comparison, the average number of working hours was 36.2 hours in the second quarter of 2024, meaning the average weekly working hours decreased by one hour per week. In the second quarter of 2025, the average total working hours for women was 31.6 hours and 38.1 hours for men. In comparison, women worked an average of 32.4 hours and men 39.3 hours in the second quarter of 2024.
The unemployment rate was 3.5%
The average number of persons in unemployment in the second quarter of 2025 was around 8,500 persons, or 3.5% of the total labour force aged 16 to 74. The unemployment rate was measured at 3.5% among women and 3.6% among men. In comparison, about 8,400 individuals were unemployed in the second quarter of 2024, with the same overall rate of 3.5%. However, unemployment was 2.9% among women and 4.0% among men at that time.
Within the age group 16 to 24, the unemployment rate was 12.2%, compared with 8.1% in the same quarter of 2024. For the age group 25 to 54 years, unemployment was 4.1%, which is 0.3 percentage points higher than it was in the second quarter of 2024. For the oldest group, 55-74 years, unemployment was 1.9% compared with exactly two percent in the second quarter of 2024.