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Countries / Europe / Iceland

Iceland tourism statistics

Iceland, 314,180 arrivals in August

Monthly arrivals, nights, spend since 1960, with 6 worked statistics. Latest 2026-08, 2 months behind.

+0.4%vs Aug 2025
1.6mYear to date
1960Figures since
2 moBehind
Where Iceland stands, August 2026

Iceland's August arrivals reach a new high for the month

Iceland recorded 314,180 arrivals in August 2026, a rise of 0.4% on August 2025 and 124.7% of the same month in 2019. The figure is the highest for this calendar month on record, sitting 7.7% above the average of the three years before. Year to date arrivals are 1.0% below the same period a year earlier.

Recent months show a mixed picture. July 2026 fell 3.1% on a year and June 2026 dropped 4.8%, while May 2026 rose 2.7%. April 2026 was broadly flat and March 2026 edged up 1.6%. August stands well above the recent run, recovering from the softer readings seen earlier in the summer.

Iceland ranks third by annual change among five European countries for this month. Rival figures from July 2026 show Slovakia up 23.0%, Romania up 20.3% and Albania up 18.3%, with Latvia at 8.7%, Estonia at 5.8% and Serbia at 3.7%. The wider backdrop includes jet fuel at $3.72 a gallon, up 84.0% on a year, and a krona 0.9% stronger against the euro. Economic growth is projected at 1.4% in 2026. September is forecast to rise 4.1% on a year, October 3.8% and November 11.9%.

Written from the figures on 20 October 2026Every number checked against the dataNext update when September is published

At a glance

Latest monthAugust 2026
Arrivals314,180
On a year+0.4%
Against August 2019124.7%
Year to date, on a year-1.0%
Growth rank in Europe3 of 5
Best month on recordAugust 2026
Trust gradeA, 100
Jet fuel, a gallon$3.72+84.0% on a year/v1/fuel
ISK per euro141.76krona +0.9% on a year/v1/fx/ISK
Growth 20261.4%projected/v1/economy/IS
This brief, its figures, rivals and outlook as data: GET /v1/countries/IS/briefAnalyst

Foreigners, and the change on a year

ArrivalsThe year beforeChange on a year, %
Follow Iceland in Google: add Tourism API as a preferred source and our new figures show first in your Top stories.Add as a preferred source

Iceland against its rivals

Click a country to swap it, or remove it with the cross. Up to six alongside Iceland.As data: GET /v1/compare?country=ISDeveloper
CountryLatestFigureOn a yearVs 2019Year to dateRivalry with Iceland

The last six months

MonthArrivalsOn a yearVs 2019Vs 3-year average
Aug 2026314,180+0.4%124.7%+7.7%
Jul 2026292,766-3.1%126.6%+2.8%
Jun 2026222,636-4.8%114.2%-1.7%
May 2026163,802+2.7%129.7%+3.4%
Apr 2026148,898-0.2%123.8%+4.2%
Mar 2026154,912+1.6%91.0%-4.3%

The next three months

September+4.1%212K to 257K
October+0.0%0.00M to 0.00MIntel
November+0.0%0.00M to 0.00MIntel

Each country's own model, remade every night as figures arrive, with an 80% range. The first month is free to see; the rest come with Intel.

How it is worked outSee the full outlook

Who Iceland competes with for visitors

6 destinations chasing the same travellers

Ranked by how much of their visitors come from the same markets, how alike their seasons are, and how close they are in size. Open any of them to see its own rivals.

SlovakiaRivalry 91
Same season and region
Slovakia, July+23.0% · 315K
Iceland, August+0.4% · 314K
SerbiaRivalry 89
Same season and region
Serbia, July+3.7% · 284K
Iceland, August+0.4% · 314K
EstoniaRivalry 87
Same season and region
Estonia, July+5.8% · 294K
Iceland, August+0.4% · 314K
RomaniaRivalry 84
Same season and region
Romania, July+20.3% · 315K
Iceland, August+0.4% · 314K
LatviaRivalry 80
Same season and region
Latvia, July+8.7% · 256K
Iceland, August+0.4% · 314K
AlbaniaRivalry 77
Same season and region
Albania, July+18.3% · 623K
Iceland, August+0.4% · 314K
Iceland is also a rival forLithuaniaMontenegroFinlandFrance

Rivalry is worked out from the figures each destination publishes and is remade every day. As data: /v1/countries/IS/rivals, on Developer and up.

Measures held

Arrivals/v1/arrivals?country=IS
Nights/v1/nights?country=IS
Spend/v1/spend?country=IS
Recovery against 2019125%August 2026 against the same month of 2019, the year before the pandemic.Analyst
Forecast, next 12 months2.5m80% range 1.9m to 3.2m. Back-tested error 13.6%.Intel
Market concentrationn/aNot worked out for Iceland yet: it needs a longer monthly history.Intel

What is held for Iceland

MeasureFrequencyBreakdownSeriesFromLatest
ArrivalsMonthlyTotal361996-042026-08
ArrivalsMonthlyAccommodation281996-012026-07
ArrivalsMonthlyOrigin101996-012026-07
ArrivalsAnnualTotal3019602026
ArrivalsAnnualAccommodation419962025
ArrivalsAnnualOrigin2519962025
ArrivalsAnnualRegion3019962025
NightsMonthlyTotal631996-042026-08
NightsMonthlyAccommodation4281996-012026-07
NightsMonthlyOrigin101996-012026-07
NightsAnnualTotal27,28919902026
NightsAnnualAccommodation8,43319902026
NightsAnnualOrigin2519902025
NightsAnnualRegion70,59219902025
SpendQuarterlyTotal31976-Q12026-Q2
SpendQuarterlyPurpose11976-Q11989-Q4
SpendAnnualTotal5119762025
SpendAnnualPurpose1919762019
DeparturesAnnualTotal2519842026
OccupancyMonthlyTotal21994-012026-07
OccupancyAnnualTotal4020002026
OccupancyAnnualAccommodation16820002026
CapacityMonthlyTotal32015-012026-08
CapacityMonthlyAccommodation242015-012026-08
CapacityAnnualTotal219902020
CapacityAnnualAccommodation919902020

Monthly arrivals: 100.0% of months held since 2002, none missing. See every month

Get Iceland in one call

# every arrivals month, Developer plan
curl "https://api.tourismapi.com/v1/arrivals?country=IS" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $TOURISM_API_KEY"

# the whole country in one file, Intel plan
curl -o is.csv "https://api.tourismapi.com/v1/bulk/IS.csv" \
  -H "X-API-Key: $TOURISM_API_KEY"
Get API keyEndpoint docs

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