Share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland
Iceland: Share of primary school teachers who are women was 81.5% in 2023. ▲ Rising
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland, 1971–2023
Source: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 81.5% for share of primary school teachers who are women in 2023.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.6% on the previous year and down 0.3% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland peaked at 82.8% in 2019 and was at its lowest, 50.2%, in 1971.
That places Iceland 83rd out of 212 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 17 years of available data.
Share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | 50.2% | — |
| 1972 | 52.4% | +4.4% |
| 1973 | 52.1% | -0.6% |
| 1974 | 54.1% | +3.8% |
| 1975 | 54.5% | +0.7% |
| 1976 | 54.4% | -0.1% |
| 2011 | 80.7% | +48.3% |
| 2012 | 81.1% | +0.6% |
| 2013 | 81.7% | +0.7% |
| 2014 | 81.7% | -0.0% |
| 2015 | 81.9% | +0.2% |
| 2018 | 82.6% | +0.8% |
| 2019 | 82.8% | +0.2% |
| 2020 | 82.7% | -0.1% |
| 2021 | 82.5% | -0.2% |
| 2022 | 82.0% | -0.6% |
| 2023 | 81.5% | -0.6% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 81.5% is below the median for high income countries, which is 84.3%, 97% of the median. (75 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 81.5% is below the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 87.2%, 93% of the median. (52 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2011 | +48.3% | 54.4% | 80.7% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1970s | 52.9% | 50.2% | 54.5% | 6 |
| 2010s | 81.8% | 80.7% | 82.8% | 7 |
| 2020s | 82.2% | 81.5% | 82.7% | 4 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More education data for Iceland
- Repeaters in primary education, all grades, both sexes (number), gaps 0 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, male (number), gaps filled 6,661 (2023)
- Enrolment in pre-primary education, female (number), gaps filled 6,167 (2023)
- Secondary education, pupils, gaps filled 37,056 (2023)
- Primary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Primary education, pupils, gaps filled 32,314 (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, annual growth rate -1.17 % change on previous year (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per unit of GDP 0 units per US$ of GDP (2023)
- Primary education, pupils, per capita 0.0838 units per person (2023)
- Secondary education, duration (years), annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland?
- Share of primary school teachers who are women in Iceland was 81.5% in 2023, according to UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 82.8% in 2019.
- What is the lowest share of primary school teachers who are women recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 50.2% in 1971.
- How does Iceland rank for share of primary school teachers who are women?
- Iceland ranks 83rd out of 212 countries with data for 2023.
- Is share of primary school teachers who are women rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.3%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from UNESCO Institute for Statistics (2026) – with minor processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary school teachers who are women. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 17 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Percentage of female teachers among all teachers at the primary education level during a given school year.