Revenue from foreign tourists during the third quarter of 2025 was 239.6 billion ISK compared with the same period last year when it was 239.2 billion ISK. Revenue from foreign tourists has increased by 4% in the last 12 months when compared with the same period the year before, from 612.5 billion ISK to 637.5 billion ISK.
Employment in the tourism industry in Iceland was 31,358 in October 2025, a decrease of 2% compared with October 2024. In the 12-month period from November 2024 to October 2025, an average of 31,629 individuals worked in the tourism industry compared with 31,701 in the previous 12-month period.
Turnover according to VAT reports in Icelandic tourism sectors was 179 billion ISK in September to October 2024, an increase of almost 3% from the previous year.
Overnight stays in hotels in October 2025 were 504,825 compared with 516,750 in October the year before. The number of overnight stays by foreign guests were 450,814 (3%) and the number of overnight stays by Icelanders were 54,011 (-33%). More information about overnight stays can be found on Statistics Iceland‘s website under the category Tourism.
In November, there were 183,540 departures of passengers from Keflavik airport compared with 197,735 in November 2024. Departures of passengers with foreign citizenship were 141,100 compared with 162,273 in November 2024, which is 13% fewer number of passengers than in the same period last year.
This release includes updated statistics on turnover by VAT reports, revenue from foreign tourists, overnight stays and register based employment. Also updated are statistics on rental cars from the Icelandic Transport Authority, passengers count by nationality from the Icelandic Tourist Board and passengers’ statistics through Keflavik Airport along with traffic statistics published by ISAVIA.
Changed publication
Please note that this is the last time a news release on tourism short-term indicators will be published. Part of the statistics which have been updated with these news releases will be updated in parallel with news releases on overnight stays, namely statistics on rental cars (Rental cars by registration) and passengers through Keflavík Airport (Passengers through Keflavik airport). See the advance release calendar for more information. However, updates of air traffic movement statistics and road traffic statistics will be discontinued.
Next year, graphical presentation of data on tourism short-term indicators will be improved where graphs will be updated in parallel with publication of statistics.
Statistics
Overnight stays
Short term indicators in tourism
External trade in services
Labour force – register data