Share of primary energy from hydropower in Iceland
Iceland: Share of primary energy from hydropower was 16.0% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Share of primary energy from hydropower in Iceland, 1965–2025
Source: Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in %.
Analysis
Iceland recorded 16.0% for share of primary energy from hydropower in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 1.7% on the previous year and down 13.2% over ten years.
Over the whole period, share of primary energy from hydropower in Iceland peaked at 30.2% in 1983 and was at its lowest, 9.3%, in 1966.
That places Iceland 2nd out of 80 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the top 10%.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 61 years of available data.
Share of primary energy from hydropower in Iceland, year by year
| Year | % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1965 | 10.1% | — |
| 1966 | 9.3% | -8.4% |
| 1967 | 10.1% | +9.0% |
| 1968 | 9.8% | -2.7% |
| 1969 | 12.9% | +31.6% |
| 1970 | 19.0% | +47.2% |
| 1971 | 19.1% | +0.3% |
| 1972 | 19.4% | +1.6% |
| 1973 | 21.0% | +8.5% |
| 1974 | 23.2% | +10.3% |
| 1975 | 23.6% | +1.6% |
| 1976 | 24.6% | +4.5% |
| 1977 | 25.2% | +2.3% |
| 1978 | 24.8% | -1.5% |
| 1979 | 25.8% | +3.8% |
| 1980 | 28.5% | +10.7% |
| 1981 | 26.8% | -6.2% |
| 1982 | 29.4% | +9.8% |
| 1983 | 30.2% | +2.7% |
| 1984 | 29.8% | -1.1% |
| 1985 | 29.4% | -1.5% |
| 1986 | 29.0% | -1.3% |
| 1987 | 28.2% | -2.7% |
| 1988 | 28.6% | +1.4% |
| 1989 | 27.6% | -3.6% |
| 1990 | 26.1% | -5.4% |
| 1991 | 27.0% | +3.6% |
| 1992 | 27.5% | +1.8% |
| 1993 | 27.4% | -0.5% |
| 1994 | 27.5% | +0.4% |
| 1995 | 27.0% | -1.9% |
| 1996 | 25.9% | -3.9% |
| 1997 | 26.6% | +2.5% |
| 1998 | 24.3% | -8.5% |
| 1999 | 21.0% | -13.7% |
| 2000 | 20.3% | -3.4% |
| 2001 | 20.3% | +0.1% |
| 2002 | 21.1% | +4.0% |
| 2003 | 21.7% | +2.7% |
| 2004 | 20.8% | -3.9% |
| 2005 | 19.7% | -5.4% |
| 2006 | 15.7% | -20.5% |
| 2007 | 14.6% | -6.6% |
| 2008 | 18.5% | +26.9% |
| 2009 | 17.2% | -7.2% |
| 2010 | 18.8% | +9.5% |
| 2011 | 18.1% | -3.7% |
| 2012 | 16.7% | -7.8% |
| 2013 | 17.1% | +2.3% |
| 2014 | 17.1% | -0.1% |
| 2015 | 18.4% | +7.7% |
| 2016 | 17.6% | -4.2% |
| 2017 | 17.7% | +0.7% |
| 2018 | 15.6% | -12.1% |
| 2019 | 15.6% | +0.1% |
| 2020 | 16.2% | +3.8% |
| 2021 | 16.8% | +3.9% |
| 2022 | 16.6% | -1.6% |
| 2023 | 16.4% | -1.0% |
| 2024 | 15.7% | -4.2% |
| 2025 | 16.0% | +1.7% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 16.0% is above the median for high income countries, which is 0.8%, 19.4× the median. (47 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 16.0% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 1.4%, 11.1× the median. (39 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Share of primary energy from hydropower 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1970 | +47.2% | 12.9% | 19.0% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 10.4% | 9.3% | 12.9% | 5 |
| 1970s | 22.6% | 19.0% | 25.8% | 10 |
| 1980s | 28.7% | 26.8% | 30.2% | 10 |
| 1990s | 26.0% | 21.0% | 27.5% | 10 |
| 2000s | 19.0% | 14.6% | 21.7% | 10 |
| 2010s | 17.3% | 15.6% | 18.8% | 10 |
| 2020s | 16.3% | 15.7% | 16.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More energy & mining data for Iceland
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Primary energy use, annual growth rate -4.9 % change on previous year (2025)
- Coal consumption, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal consumption, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Primary energy use, per capita 0.0002 terawatt-hours per person (2025)
- Coal production, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Coal production, per unit of GDP 0 terawatt-hours per US$ of GDP (2024)
- Fossil fuel consumption by fuel, per capita 0 terawatt-hours per person (2024)
- Fuel imports 9.0% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is share of primary energy from hydropower in Iceland?
- Share of primary energy from hydropower in Iceland was 16.0% in 2025, according to Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest share of primary energy from hydropower recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 30.2% in 1983.
- What is the lowest share of primary energy from hydropower recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 9.3% in 1966.
- How does Iceland rank for share of primary energy from hydropower?
- Iceland ranks 2nd out of 80 countries with data for 2025.
- Is share of primary energy from hydropower rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 13.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from Energy Institute – Statistical Review of World Energy (2026); Smil (2017); U.S. Energy Information Administration (2026) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Share of primary energy from hydropower. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 61 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Measured as a percentage of total energy supply.