The bar chart illustrates the distribution of Iceland’s population across various age groups every decade from 1990 to 2020.
Overall, there was substantial growth in the proportion of people ages 25-54 and a corresponding fall in the size of the younger age groups. 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 ages 25 to 54 forming the largest demographic. Starting at just north of 30%, this group grew larger, encompassing roughly half of the population by 2020. In contrast, there were considerable declines in the younger cohorts. The proportion of children and adolescents under 14 years old, despite falling from about 25% to 18% over the period, remained the second largest segment of the population. Their 15-24-year-old counterparts, meanwhile, ended up as the smallest age cohort, dropping by almost two-thirds from approximately 22% to 8%, which was the most significant fall seen throughout the period.
Turning to the older age group, initially, the proportion of 55 to 64-year-old 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 examined decades, with the former falling slightly to 10% in 2020, while the figure for the latter remained almost unchanged, albeit with a temporary peak at 15% in 2010