Weekly bul­letin 15 July 2024

The volume of travellers to Iceland decreased by 9% in June this year compared to June 2023. Unemployment was 3.1% in June, slightly higher than the same time last year.
Gönguleið
15 July 2024

The week ahead

  • Tomorrow, the Central Bank of Iceland (CBI) publishes payment mediation figures for June. Also on Tuesday, the Housing and Construction Authority publishes the housing price index for June.
  • On Wednesday, inflation figures will be published for the UK and the eurozone. Sjóvá publishes interim financial statements for Q2.
  • On Thursday, the ECB announces its interest rate decision. Landsbankinn and Icelandair publish Q2 results.

Image of the week

Around 212,000 foreign travellers passed through Keflavík International Airport in June, a 9% decrease from June 2023. This is the third month in a row where a decrease is registered compared to the same month the previous year. Overnight stay figures, released last week, showed an 18% decrease in registered overnight stays of non-Icelandic tourist between years in May. Turnover of non-domestic payment cards has also contracted between years, though the data is not conclusive. There are several indications that the travel industry is slowing down between years.

Highlights of the previous week

  • In addition to figures on foreign tourist numbers in June, the Icelandic Tourist Board released figures on overseas travel by Icelanders. Departures by Icelanders showed a considerable up-tick in June and numbered 65,000, an increase of over 17% from June 2023. This year to date, departures by Icelanders have been just under two percentage points more numerous than the same time last year.
  • Registered unemployment was 3.1% in June according to figures published by the Directorate of Labour on Wednesday, down from 3.4% in May. Despite a contraction in unemployment between months, it is nonetheless 0.2 percentage points higher than the same time last year, which may be an indication of lower tension in the labour market.
  • Inflation in the US was 3.0% in June.
  • In a new inflation forecast, we expect 5.9% inflation in July and that inflation will trend down to 5.4% in October.
  • Icelandair and Play released June load figures.
  • Alvotech finalised a debt refinancing programme.

Statistics and market data

Weekly bulletin 15 July 2024 (PDF Icelandic)

Disclaimer
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