Rankings · Iceland
Each ranking lists every office-holder by how one indicator moved from their first day in office, next to Iceland over the same months. A ranking of what happened during a tenure, not of who did it. Data as of Oct 2026. The worldwide rankings set them against every other country's.
Prime ministers
- Real GDP during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, quarterly national accounts (THJ01601, chain-volume measures at 2020 prices, seasonally adjusted), summed over the trailing four quarters, from 1995; the yearly accounts (THJ01103, 2020 prices) before, rescaled to 1995
- Real GDP per person during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, quarterly GDP (THJ01601, chained 2020 prices, seasonally adjusted), summed over the trailing four quarters (the yearly accounts before 1995), over the population on 1 January (MAN00000) interpolated to the quarter
- Unemployment rate during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, Labour Force Survey, persons aged 16 to 74, not seasonally adjusted: quarterly from 2003 (VIN00910), the April and November surveys of 1991-2002 before (VIN01003)
- Employment rate, 16 to 74 during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, Labour Force Survey, persons aged 16 to 74, not seasonally adjusted: quarterly from 2003 (VIN00910), the April and November surveys of 1991-2002 before (VIN01003); for 1991-2002 the activity rate times one minus the unemployment rate
- People in work during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, register-based employment (VIN10001): people with paid work in the month by the tax authorities' withholding records, residents and non-residents, averaged over the trailing twelve months (the count swings with the summer season), from 2003
- Real wages during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, wage index at constant prices (LAU04800: the wage index over the consumer price index, as Statistics Iceland computes it), monthly from 1989, rebased by Politare to its 2025 average
- Inflation (CPI) during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, consumer price index (VIS01000, base May 1988 = 100), its own change on the same month a year earlier
- Consumer prices (CPI) during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, consumer price index (VIS01000, base May 1988 = 100), monthly; the index to which Iceland's indexed loans are tied
- House prices during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, residential property market price index (VIS01106), the whole country, monthly from March 2000, not adjusted for inflation
- Exchange rate during each prime minister's tenureCentral Bank of Iceland's rate via the IMF (ER, kronur per US dollar, period average)
- Government debt during each prime minister's tenureIMF World Economic Outlook, general government gross debt (GGXWDG_NGDP), calendar years, the years of actual figures only (the latest an estimate)
- Population during each prime minister's tenureStatistics Iceland, population on 1 January (MAN00000), from the national register
- Happiness during each prime minister's tenureWorld Happiness Report, Figure 2.1 data (Gallup World Poll): life evaluation, the national average answer to Gallup's question of where on a ladder from 0 (the worst possible life) to 10 (the best) people stand today; each point the average of three years of surveys, dated at the middle one, with the WHR's 95 % interval from 2019; 2013 is not published
- Government effectiveness during each prime minister's tenureWorld Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators (GOV_WGI_GE.SC): perceptions of the quality of public services, the civil service and of policy-making, a score from 0 to 100 with its 90 % interval
- Regulatory quality during each prime minister's tenureWorld Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators (GOV_WGI_RQ.SC): perceptions of the government's ability to make and carry out sound rules that let private business form and compete, a score from 0 to 100 with its 90 % interval
- Rule of law during each prime minister's tenureWorld Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators (GOV_WGI_RL.SC): confidence in contracts, property rights, the police and the courts, a score from 0 to 100 with its 90 % interval
- Control of corruption during each prime minister's tenureWorld Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators (GOV_WGI_CC.SC): perceptions of public power used for private gain, petty and grand, a score from 0 to 100 with its 90 % interval
- Corruption perceptions index during each prime minister's tenureTransparency International, Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI score): perceived public-sector corruption as business people and country experts rate it, comparable from 2012, the score as TI publishes it with its confidence interval
- Voice and accountability during each prime minister's tenureWorld Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators (GOV_WGI_VA.SC): perceptions of how far citizens can take part in choosing their government, and of freedom of expression, association and the media, a score from 0 to 100 with its 90 % interval
- Electoral democracy index during each prime minister's tenureV-Dem Institute, V-Dem dataset v16 (v2x_polyarchy): the electoral democracy index, free and fair elections with wide suffrage and the freedoms of association and expression that make them count, as V-Dem's country experts rate them, with V-Dem's confidence interval; the 0 to 1 index times 100
- Liberal democracy index during each prime minister's tenureV-Dem Institute, V-Dem dataset v16 (v2x_libdem): the liberal democracy index, electoral democracy plus the checks on the executive and the rights of the person, as V-Dem's country experts rate them, with V-Dem's confidence interval; the 0 to 1 index times 100
- Freedom of expression during each prime minister's tenureV-Dem Institute, V-Dem dataset v16 (v2x_freexp_altinf): the freedom of expression and alternative sources of information index, the press, academic and private speech and the media's independence, as V-Dem's country experts rate them, with V-Dem's confidence interval; the 0 to 1 index times 100
- Political stability during each prime minister's tenureWorld Bank, Worldwide Governance Indicators (GOV_WGI_PV.SC): perceptions of the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, terrorism included, a score from 0 to 100 with its 90 % interval
Mayors
- Population during each mayor's tenureStatistics Iceland, population by municipality from the national register: the final figures of 1 December 1990-1997 (MAN02009, with Kjalarneshreppur, merged into the city in 1998), then 1 January from 1998 (MAN02005, today's municipal borders)
- Residents in work during each mayor's tenureStatistics Iceland, register-based employment by legal residence (VIN10012): Reykjavík's residents with paid work in the month by the tax authorities' withholding records, averaged over the trailing twelve months (the count swings with the summer season), from 2005; the country's line is the sum of the eight regions
- Unemployment rate during each mayor's tenureStatistics Iceland, Labour Force Survey (VIN00910), the capital region (Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær, Seltjarnarnes and Kjósarhreppur), persons aged 16 to 74, quarterly from 2003, not seasonally adjusted
- Employment rate, 16 to 74 during each mayor's tenureStatistics Iceland, Labour Force Survey (VIN00910), the capital region (Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjörður, Garðabær, Mosfellsbær, Seltjarnarnes and Kjósarhreppur), persons aged 16 to 74, quarterly from 2003, not seasonally adjusted
- House prices during each mayor's tenureStatistics Iceland, residential property market price index (VIS01106): the capital area's flats in multi-flat houses (the index has no total for the capital area), monthly from March 2000, not adjusted for inflation; the country's line is the whole country's total
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