Credit Management May 2022

COUNTRY FOCUS
Iceland may be
small, but it has
much to offer.
Going with the flow
AUTHOR – Adam Bernstein
IT can’t be easy for a country to be
synonymous with a UK food retailer,
especially when that company attempts
to trademark the name of that state.
However, in 2019, Iceland – the country
– won. Its objection was upheld by the
European Union Intellectual Property Office. It
said that that Iceland Food Ltd could not register
a trademark for the sole use of the word ‘Iceland’
within the European Union.
Of course, there’s more to the island nation of
Iceland than a court case.
Located in the North Atlantic, on the mid-
Atlantic ridge, between the UK, Greenland
Denmark and Norway, its placed 106th in the world
in terms of landmass with an area of 100,000 km2.
By way of comparison, Iceland occupies land that
is around 41 percent that of the UK’s 242,495 km2
which itself is ranked 78th.
Iceland, as anyone affected by the 2010 eruption
of Eyjafjallajökull and the subsequent disruption
to Atlantic air travel will remember, is set on a
volcanic plateau that is highly active. Just outside
of the Arctic Circle it nevertheless has a temperate
climate since it’s warmed by the Gulf Stream.
Iceland is a relatively young nation having
been first settled in 874 by Viking explorers.
Independent until the 13th century, it became
part of the Kalmar Union in 1397 and subject to
Norwegian rule. Post 1523, when Sweden left the
union, Iceland moved to Danish rule. Fast forward
to 1918 and Iceland regained independence and
became a republic in 1944.
Present day Iceland is a member of NATO
the European Economic Area, European Free
Trade Association United Nations, International
Monetary Fund, World Bank, World Trade
Organization, Organization for Economic
Cooperation and Development and Organization
for Security and Cooperation in Europe.
THE PEOPLE
In terms of population, Iceland has just 376,000
inhabitants which puts it in 172nd position
globally. The UK, in contrast, is in 21st place
globally with a population of 67m. Doing the
maths, Iceland’s population density couldn’t
be more different with an average of just three
people per km2; the UK can count 277 people per
km2. Only Western Sahara (two people per km2),
Mongolia (2), the Falkland Islands (0.3), Svalbard
and Jan Mayen (0.04) and Greenland (0.03) have
lower population densities. Of course, statistics
don’t tell the full story as populations aren’t evenly
Iceland may be
small, but it has much
to offer, not least of
which is an almost
limitless supply of
very inexpensive
energy which does
not rely on fossil
fuels.
spread about a country’s surface. In terms of
Iceland, the population is almost entirely urban
with most located in and around the capital of
Reykjavik. There are smaller clusters along the
coast in the north and west.
In more detail, there are some 107 settlements
of which the capital, Reykjavik, is the largest with
124,847 (2018 data), followed by Kópavogur with
35,966, and Hafnarfjöròur and its 29,409 souls.
There are four more towns with between 10,225
and 18,542 residents each. And beyond that, 23
towns count between 1006 and 7564 people. That
leaves that smallest 76 settlements with anywhere
from 43 up to 970 inhabitants.
The mother tongue is Icelandic, and stems from
Old Norse; it has changed remarkably little since
the country was first settled by the Vikings. That
said, English is widely spoken, and most Icelanders
speak at least one Scandinavian language. Further,
most students, past compulsory schooling age,
will have learnt German, Spanish or French.
As to ethnicity, the CIA World Factbook
estimates – using 2021 data – that Icelandic is
spoken by 81.3 percent of the population, Polish
by 5.6 percent, Danish by one percent, and 12.1
percent comes from elsewhere.
By looking at data from Statistics Iceland from
2008, it’s possible to see how the population has
changed. Back then, Icelandic was spoken by 93.2
percent of the population, Polish by 2.74 percent,
Lithuanian by 0.43 percent, English by 0.32
percent, and German and Danish by 0.31 percent
each. Just 2.72 percent spoke by ‘others’.
In terms of age, the CIA estimates (2020 data)
that the demographic is relatively evenly spread
out with 20.31 percent aged 14 or under (male
36,394/female 34,837); 12.85 percent aged 15-24
years (male 22,748/female 22,317); 39.44 percent
aged 25-54 years (male 70,227/female 68,095);
11.94 percent aged 55-64 years (male 20,762/
female 21,111); and 15.47 percent aged 65 and
over (male 25,546/female 28,697). The median age
is 37.1 years.
According to the World Economic Forum’s
Global Gender Gap Report, Iceland is the most
gender-equal country – a position it has held for
the past 12 years.
INDUSTRY AND BUSINESS SECTORS
As for the economy, the OECD, citing 2021 data,
puts the Icelandic economy at ISK 2844.bn or
some $22bn. The OECD also thinks that the
economy will grow by 5.2 percent in 2022 and
four percent in 2023, largely driven by foreign
Brave | Curious | Resilient / www.cicm.com / May 2022 / PAGE 26