Iceland: Doing business and staying in touch

Doing Business in Iceland

Icelanders are friendly, polite, and appreciate punctuality. If they invite you to their homes, you should take a small gift (ideally something from your home country). Businesspeople are expected to dress smartly and greet people with a firm handshake.

The official language is Icelandic but almost everyone is fluent in English.

Office Hours

Mon-Fri 0800-1600 (summer) and 0900-1700 (other months).

Economy

Iceland's economy mainly revolves around fishery, aluminium smelting and tourism, all backed by quality infrastructure, clean energy and a well-educated workforce.

Iceland is certainly a leader in using geothermal energy – nearly 100% of its electricity comes from renewable sources, and they had achieved this long before the word 'renewable' was on everyone's lips. The country has been sharing its geothermal knowledge with other nations and training future engineers.

GDP

US$20 billion (2019).

Main exports

Aluminium, fish, medical products.

Main imports

Machinery and equipment, refined petroleum, foodstuffs.

Main trading partners

Netherlands, Norway, UK, Germany, Denmark, USA.

Keeping in Touch in Iceland

Telephone

With mobile phones so widely used by locals and tourists alike, public payphones are no longer available in towns and cities.

Mobile Phone

Roaming agreements exist with many international providers. Coverage is good in cities, towns and major attractions, but spotty in remote areas.

Internet

Wi-Fi is widely available in cafés, restaurants and hotels throughout the country.

Post

There is an efficient airmail service to Europe.

Mon-Fri 0830-1630.