The economy of Iceland expanded 1.7 percent year-on-year in the first quarter of 2019, easing from a 4.0 percent expansion in the previous period. It is the lowest growth rate since the first quarter of 2014 when the economy contracted 1 percent. Household spending slowdown (2.8 percent compared to 3.3 percent in Q4) while both gross fixed capital formation (-9.4 percent vs 2.5 percent) and inventories (-2.9 percent vs 0.9 percent) fell. Meanwhile, public expenditure increased faster (2.8 percent vs 2.6 percent). Regarding net foreign trade, exports went up 2.6 percent (from -5.9 percent in Q4) while imports dropped 8.1 percent (from 6.0 percent in Q4). On a quarterly basis, the economy advanced 0.6 percent, after a 1.7 percent expansion in the previous quarter. GDP Annual Growth Rate in Iceland averaged 3.52 percent from 1998 until 2019, reaching an all time high of 13.40 percent in the first quarter of 1999 and a record low of -8.70 percent in the fourth quarter of 2009.
GDP Annual Growth Rate in Iceland is expected to be 0.90 percent by the end of this quarter, according to Trading Economics global macro models and analysts expectations. Looking forward, we estimate GDP Annual Growth Rate in Iceland to stand at 1.90 in 12 months time. In the long-term, the Iceland GDP Annual Growth Rate is projected to trend around 2.60 percent in 2020, according to our econometric models.