remarkably even distribution of income. The economy depends
heavily on the fishing industry, which provides 70% of export earnings
and employs 12% of the work force. In the absence of other natural
resources (except for abundant hydrothermal and geothermal power),
Iceland's economy is vulnerable to changing world fish prices. The
economy remains sensitive to declining fish stocks as well as to drops
in world prices for its main exports: fish and fish products,
aluminum, and ferrosilicon. The center-right government plans 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 2000, to a still respectable 3.5%.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $6.42 billion (1999 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 4.5% (1999 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $23,500 (1999 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 15% (includes fishing 13%)
industry: 21%
services: 64% (1998 est.)

Population below poverty line: NA%

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

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 1.9% (1999 est.)

Labor force: 131,000 (1999)

Labor force - by occupation: manufacturing 12.9%, fishing and fish
processing 11.8%, construction 10.7%, other services 59.5%,
agriculture 5.1% (1999)

Unemployment rate: 2.4% (1999 est.)

Budget:
revenues: $NA
expenditures: $3 billion, including capital expenditures of $146
million (1999 est.)

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

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 6.187 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 0.06%
hydro: 89.88%
nuclear: 0%
other: 10.06% (1998)

Electricity - consumption: 5.754 billion kWh (1998)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1998)

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