Economic trends
After a period of continuous growth between the second half of the 1990s and 2007, Iceland was hit head-on by the global international crisis, as early as October 2008. The rapid, incautious and exaggerated growth of the Icelandic financial system has left Iceland completely helpless faced with the international financial crisis, to the point of practically bringing the country to a situation of "national bankruptcy". Added to this is the fact that in recent years Iceland's economy has been stimulated by a real estate boom, which because of the current difficulties in obtaining mortgages, has further contributed to distabilizing the economic situation.
Confronted by the total collapse of its financial system, the former government of Geeir Haarde had to nationalize the country's main banks, though this did not contain the "haemorrhage". Inflation continued to climb to reach almost 18.6% today. In November 2008, the IMF gave Iceland a 2 billion dollar loan in order to stabilize the Icelandic króna's exchange rate, which suffered considerably from the crisis, and to re-establish confindence in the economy.
Main branches of industry
The mainstays of the Icelandic economy are renewable natural resources: deep sea fishing, hydraulic and geothermal power, and pastures. The importance of the human capital is increasing, as witnessed by the development of numerous computer and software companies in recent years.
The main sectors are fish processing, ferrosilicon production and geothermal power.
International trade
Iceland has always been open to international trade. Almost half of the exports are fishing products. Iceland also exports aluminum and ferrosilicon (around 40% of the total exports), as well as dairy products.
Iceland's main customers are Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.
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Last updates: September 2010
