The bar chart illustrates the distribution of Iceland’s population across five age groups every ten years from 1990 to 2020.
Overall, what is salient in the chart is the substantial growth in the adult population from 25 to 54 years old. This increase came at the expense / cost/ price of significant decreases in the proportion of those under 24. Meanwhile, there was generally little change in the group aged over 55.
In all four years examined, the vast majority of the Icelandic population was under 54 years old, with adults aged 25 to 54 forming the largest demographic. Commencing at just north of 30%, this group gradually expanded/ grew larger, encompassing nearly half of the population in 2020. In stark contrast, there were considerable declines in the younger cohorts. Children and adolescents under 14 remained the second largest segment of the population, although their figures fell from around 25% to 18% over the period. Meanwhile, their 15-24-year-old counterparts ended up as the smallest age cohort, dropping by almost two-thirds from approximately 22% to 8%, which was the most significant fall observed in the survey.
Turning to the older groups, initially, the proportion of 55 to 64-year-olds was slightly higher than that of those aged 65 and over, at 14% compared to 13% of the latter. This order, nevertheless, reversed over the following years surveyed, with the former falling marginally to 10% in 2020, while the figures for the latter remained virtually unchanged, albeit with a temporary peak at 15% in 2010.