The Icelandic economy is booming, living standards are among the highest in the OECD and estimates by Icelandic businessmen as well as government reports expect Iceland will have to import thousands of foreign workers to meet the needs of businesses struggling to keep up with a rapidly growing economy. But despite all of this native born Icelanders continue to move abroad, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reports. In 2014 11.7% of native-born Icelanders lived abroad.
Read more: Employment rate of immigrants highest in Iceland in the OECD
Forbes tweeted the following picture illustrating these facts.
The countries with the most native-born people living abroad https://t.co/YQADTiT4Ld pic.twitter.com/HPkWITZjVB
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 17, 2016
Iceland is among the OECD countries with the highest percentage of native-born population living abroad in 2014. 11.7% of native-born Icelanders lived abroad in 2014. Only Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico and Luxembourg have a higher percentage of the native-born population living abroad. Data from Statistics Iceland shows that 1,130 more native-born Icelanders moved abroad than moved back to Iceland during the first three quarters of 2015.
The continued movement of native born Icelanders abroad, during a time of economic boom, has recently been the subject of a lively debate in Iceland. Traditionally people have been more likely to move abroad during times of economic recession, but the past two years have seen strong economic growth and rapidly shrinking unemployment. The Icelandic Federation of Labour issued a report on the subject, arguing it could be seen as an indication that highly educated Icelanders and young Icelanders were failing to see job opportunities in Iceland.
The Icelandic economy is booming, living standards are among the highest in the OECD and estimates by Icelandic businessmen as well as government reports expect Iceland will have to import thousands of foreign workers to meet the needs of businesses struggling to keep up with a rapidly growing economy. But despite all of this native born Icelanders continue to move abroad, the Icelandic National Broadcasting Service reports. In 2014 11.7% of native-born Icelanders lived abroad.
Read more: Employment rate of immigrants highest in Iceland in the OECD
Forbes tweeted the following picture illustrating these facts.
The countries with the most native-born people living abroad https://t.co/YQADTiT4Ld pic.twitter.com/HPkWITZjVB
— Forbes (@Forbes) January 17, 2016
Iceland is among the OECD countries with the highest percentage of native-born population living abroad in 2014. 11.7% of native-born Icelanders lived abroad in 2014. Only Ireland, New Zealand, Portugal, Mexico and Luxembourg have a higher percentage of the native-born population living abroad. Data from Statistics Iceland shows that 1,130 more native-born Icelanders moved abroad than moved back to Iceland during the first three quarters of 2015.
The continued movement of native born Icelanders abroad, during a time of economic boom, has recently been the subject of a lively debate in Iceland. Traditionally people have been more likely to move abroad during times of economic recession, but the past two years have seen strong economic growth and rapidly shrinking unemployment. The Icelandic Federation of Labour issued a report on the subject, arguing it could be seen as an indication that highly educated Icelanders and young Icelanders were failing to see job opportunities in Iceland.
