The Economic History of Iceland

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Abstract Iceland was the last major land area in Europe to be settled. During the Viking expansion of the 9th and 10th centuries people from Scandinavia and the British Isles explored and populated the offshore islands of the North Atlantic, including Iceland. For most of its history, Iceland was a thoroughly rural society based on animal husbandry on largely self-sufficient family farms that were supplemented, in the coastal regions, with small-scale fishing, which gradually developed into the main export industry. For centuries, it was a story of near stagnation, inefficient institutions, a declining population struggling with a colder climate, and reduced vegetation. Only since the mid-19th century has the story been one of growth, spurred initially by foreign trade and followed by all-round modernization, which enabled the tiny Icelandic state to catch up with its neighbors in terms of social and economic standards.

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