75 thousand departures of foreign passengers in November

The number of foreign passenger departures from the country via Keflavík Airport was around 75 thousand in November, according to figures from the Icelandic Tourist Board and Isavia. The numbers are similar to those in 2015.

Since the beginning of the year, about 623 thousand foreign passengers have departed Iceland, a 32.6% increase compared to the same period last year when the number of foreign passengers departing was about 470 thousand. Compared to 2019, the decrease is 66%.

One third of all departures were Americans and Brits.

Departures by nationalities 

In November, the vast majority of departures were Americans and Brits, or one third (33.5%). The Germans came third, but their departures were about 7,900 or 10.4% of the total. Fourth were French departures, about 9.3% of the total, and fifth Poles, about 7.2% of the total departures.

Thereafter came departures of Italians (4.1% of the total), the Dutch (3.8% of the total), Danes (3.1% of the total), Belgians (2.8% of the total), and Irish (2.5% of the total). In total, the departures of the ten largest nations were 76.8% of the total.

Departures January to November

As can be seen from the table to the right, the number of departures of foreign passengers this year is 33% higher compared to last year. However, when looking at departures in the last six months, it can be seen that the number has more than quadrupled between years, with departures measured at 591 thousand in the period June to November 2021 and around 135 thousand in 2020. The table also shows comparisons with departures in 2019, where it can be seen that departures for 2021 were only half that of 2019. 

Departures of Icelanders

The number of departures of Icelanders in November were about 33 thousand, but in the same month last year, they were about 2 thousand. Since the beginning of the year, the number of departures of Icelanders was about 186 thousand or 47% more than in the same period last year.

Further Information

Further division between nations can be seen in the table below and under the Numbers of foreign visitors here on the web.