s to continue its
policies of reducing the budget and current account deficits,
limiting foreign borrowing, containing inflation, revising
agricultural and fishing policies, diversifying the economy, and
privatizing state-owned industries. The government remains opposed
to EU membership, primarily because of Icelanders' concern about
losing control over their fishing resources. Iceland's economy has
been diversifying into manufacturing and service industries in the
last decade, and new developments in software production,
biotechnology, and financial services are taking place. The tourism
sector is also expanding, with the recent trends in ecotourism and
whale-watching. Growth is likely to slow in 1999, to a still
respectable 4.6%.

GDP: purchasing power parity--$6.06 billion (1998 est.)

GDP--real growth rate: 5.1% (1998 est.)

GDP--per capita: purchasing power parity?$22,400 (1998 est.)

GDP--composition by sector:
agriculture: 13%
industry: 24%
services: 63% (1997 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: NA%
highest 10%: NA%

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.7% (1998)

Labor force: 130,000 (1998 est.)

Labor force--by occupation: manufacturing 12.9%, fishing and fish
processing 11.8%, construction 10.7%, other services 59.5%,
agriculture 5.1% (1996 est.)

Unemployment rate: 3% (1998 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $1.9 billion
expenditures: $2.1 billion, including capital expenditures of $146
million (1996 est.)

Industries: fish processing; aluminum smelting, ferrosilicon
production, geothermal power; tourism

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity--production: 5.048 billion kWh (1996)

Electricity--production by source:
fossil fuel: 0.06%
hydro: 93.43%
nuclear: 0%
other: 6.51%

Electricity--consumption: 5.532 billion kWh (1997)

Electricity--exports: 0 kWh (1996)

Electricity--imports: 0 kWh (1996)

Agriculture--products: potatoes, turnips; cattle, sheep; fish

Exports: $1.9 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Exports--commodities: fish and fish products 70%, animal products,
aluminum, diatomite and ferrosilicon

Exports--partners: EU 60% (UK 19%, Germany 13%, France 6%, Denmark
6%), US 14% (1997)

Imports: $2.4 billion (f.o.b., 1998)

Imports--commodities: machinery and equipment, petroleum products,
foodstuffs, textiles

Imports--partners: EU 58% (G