According to measurement from the Icelandic Labour Force Survey, the unemployment rate among individuals aged 16 to 74 was 5.3% in August 2025. The number of unemployed persons was approximately 12,800. The employment rate stood at 78.6%, corresponding to about 228,900 individuals, and the activity rate was 83%, representing about 241,700 people in the labour force.
Compared with the same month in 2024, unemployment increased by 2.9 percentage points, the employment rate declined by 4.9 percentage points, and the activity rate fell by 2.6 percentage points. Increased unemployment rate is mostly due to an increase in unemployment for people aged 16 – 24 years old, although the increase is also visible for older age groups.
Seasonally adjusted figures for August 2025 showed an unemployment rate of 5.7%. The seasonally adjusted employment rate was 77.3%, and the activity rate was 82.0%. Between July and August, seasonally adjusted unemployment rose by 1.6 percentage points, the employment rate decreased by 0.5 percentage points while the activity rate increased by 0.9 percentage points.