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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Iceland Is Governed

Iceland is a unitary state that scores 0.72 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 46% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex marriage is legal. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Iceland, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership+0.60PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 94.9 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 70 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 70 (2026). Source
Markets+0.45PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 86.8 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 59.3 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 73.5 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): 1.07 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): Typical of OECD economies: state utilities, rail, post, some energy (2026). Source
Welfare-0.25SharedSelf-reliant4 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 45.65 (2025). Source
  • Public social spending (% of GDP): 19.22 (2024). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 7.28 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 72.2 (2026). Source
Authority-0.80DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.72 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.96 (2025). Source
Security-0.95LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 57 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 82.77 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Abolished for all crimes (2025). Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 35 (2024). Source
Structure+1.00LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0 (2025). Source
Morality-0.85ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex marriage legal (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: On request (within a gestational limit) (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 86.05 (2025). Source
Religion+0.05SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: Established or official religion, or religious law in part of the territory or courts (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: None (2025). Source
Technology-0.10EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 2.64 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: No nuclear power, no legal ban (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: None grown, no ban (2025). Source
Culture-0.15MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 25.12 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 7 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Allowed (2025). Source
Trade-0.65GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 1.63 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 1.32 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 79.8 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 82.49 (2025). Source
Foreign policy-1.00CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 0 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: None: volunteer forces or no military (2025). Iceland has no armed forces. Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: State party (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: Integrated military alliance (NATO, a US mutual defense treaty, ANZUS, CSTO) (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Iceland

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Iceland on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1Portugal93%
  2. 2Luxembourg88%
  3. 3Ireland86%
  4. 4Bulgaria85%
  5. 5Malta85%
Least similarIran37%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to IcelandClosest: 1. Portugal 93%, 2. Luxembourg 88%, 3. Ireland 86%, 4. Bulgaria 85%, 5. Malta 85%, 6. New Zealand 85%, 7. Cyprus 84%, 8. Slovenia 83%, 9. Lithuania 82%, 10. Netherlands 82%. Least similar: Iran 37%. Every country is in the list after the map.Iceland
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FAQ

Iceland: questions

How is Iceland governed, on the 12 axes?

Iceland is a unitary state that scores 0.72 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 46% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is abolished and same-sex marriage is legal. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Cooperation on Foreign policy (-1.00), Central on Structure (+1.00) and Liberty on Security (-0.95), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Iceland?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are Portugal (93%), Luxembourg (88%) and Ireland (86%). The furthest is Iran (37%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Iceland come from?

From 42 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 82.8 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 35 prisoners per 100,000 people (2024), military spending of 0% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 25% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Iceland think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

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