More motor vehicles than people in Iceland
There are more motor vehicles than people in Iceland. Photo: Iceland Monitor/Ómar Óskarsson
Iceland is a nation of cars. Few rely on public transportation and most Icelanders get a driving licence as soon as are allowed, at the age of 17.
Icelanders’ love for cars is best described in numbers. There are 344.664 registered cars in Iceland. The Icelandic population is 338.349. There are more cars in Iceland than people, and the number of cars doesn’t even take into account unregistered cars, which are often used on farms or are waiting for repairs.
The number of cars in Iceland grew by 6% in over the last year, far more than the population which only grew a mere 1.8% (which in any other sense would be considerable).
This great number of cars is a bit distorted a bit by tourism. Some of these cars are rental cars, and therefore not used much by Icelanders.
