International tourism, number of departures in Iceland
Iceland: International tourism, number of departures was 130,000 in 2020. ▲ Rising
International tourism, number of departures in Iceland, 1995–2020
Source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
Analysis
The most recent figure for international tourism, number of departures in Iceland is 130,000, measured in 2020. That is the lowest value across all 22 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 78.7% on the previous year and down 56.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, international tourism, number of departures in Iceland peaked at 668,000 in 2018 and was at its lowest, 130,000, in 2020.
Iceland ranks 100th of 117 countries on this measure, in the bottom quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 22 years of available data.
International tourism, number of departures in Iceland, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1995 | 166,000 | — |
| 1996 | 190,000 | +14.5% |
| 1997 | 203,000 | +6.8% |
| 1998 | 227,000 | +11.8% |
| 1999 | 257,000 | +13.2% |
| 2000 | 283,000 | +10.1% |
| 2005 | 364,000 | +28.6% |
| 2006 | 440,000 | +20.9% |
| 2007 | 460,000 | +4.5% |
| 2008 | 414,000 | -10.0% |
| 2009 | 259,000 | -37.4% |
| 2010 | 299,000 | +15.4% |
| 2011 | 341,000 | +14.0% |
| 2012 | 358,000 | +5.0% |
| 2013 | 365,000 | +2.0% |
| 2014 | 400,000 | +9.6% |
| 2015 | 450,000 | +12.5% |
| 2016 | 536,000 | +19.1% |
| 2017 | 619,000 | +15.5% |
| 2018 | 668,000 | +7.9% |
| 2019 | 611,000 | -8.5% |
| 2020 | 130,000 | -78.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 208,600 | 166,000 | 257,000 | 5 |
| 2000s | 370,000 | 259,000 | 460,000 | 6 |
| 2010s | 464,700 | 299,000 | 668,000 | 10 |
| 2020s | 130,000 | 130,000 | 130,000 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More private sector data for Iceland
- Merchandise trade 46.9% (2025)
- Food imports 11.1% (2025)
- Manufactures imports 71.1% (2025)
- Merchandise imports 10.94 billion current US$ (2025)
- Food exports 46.9% (2025)
- Manufactures exports 14.0% (2025)
- Merchandise exports 7.17 billion current US$ (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per capita 18,264 current US$ per person (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), per unit of GDP 0.1858 current US$ per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Merchandise exports (current US$), annual growth rate 3.33 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is international tourism, number of departures in Iceland?
- International tourism, number of departures in Iceland was 130,000 in 2020, according to Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism.
- What is the highest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 668,000 in 2018.
- What is the lowest international tourism, number of departures recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 130,000 in 2020.
- How does Iceland rank for international tourism, number of departures?
- Iceland ranks 100th out of 117 countries with data for 2020.
- Is international tourism, number of departures rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 56.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism, published as part of International tourism, number of departures. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 22 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
International outbound tourists are the number of departures that people make from their country of usual residence to any other country for any purpose other than a remunerated activity in the country visited. The data on outbound tourists refer to the number of departures, not to the number of people traveling. Thus a person who makes several trips from a country during a given period is counted each time as a new departure.