Statistics Iceland
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Íslenska
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Census: Activity status by sex 1870-2021

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9/12/2023
Persons
1870-2021
CEN9903
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Mandatory
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Source for 1870 to 1960: Hagskinna. Icelandic Historical Statistics. Hagstofa Íslands, Reykjavík 1997.
In the 1960 censuses and prior, persons aged 15 and over were counted as economically active if they worked during the 'reference week in November' at least one third of the normal working hours in the relevant branch.
In the 1981 census, those who worked for income in at least three weeks in 1980 and worked the whole year 1980 or in November of that year. In addition to these, apprentices in 1980 were counted as employed.
Activity in the 2011 and 2021 censuses was derived from PAYE tax register so that those who worked in the November immediately preceding the census date and received wages equal to or greater than the minimum wage of one hour per week were counted as working.
In the 2011 and 2021 censuses, data from the unemployment register was used to estimate the number of unemployed, but this question was not asked in the 1981 and earlier censuses. They were therefore omitted in this table from the 2011 and 2021 in order to improve comparability.
The figures for 1981 and later also differ from previous figures in that the 15-year-old age cohort is not included when counting the economically active population. In some of the censuses prior to 1950 this cohort was also excluded.