Iceland’s economy grew during the first six months of 2013, helped by exports and consumer spending, revealed data from Statistics Iceland. Gross domestic product expanded by 2.2 per cent compared to the first six months of 2012.
Household spending increased by 1.2 per cent and public expenditure went up by 1.1 per cent year-on-year too. On the flip side, however, total domestic expenditure fell by one per cent.
Exports rose by 1.1 per cent, but imports dropped by 4.6 per cent. Meanwhile, fixed capital formation went down by 13 per cent.
Year-on-year, GDP increased by 4.2 per cent in the second quarter of 2013, after growing by 0.3 per cent in the first quarter. But the economy was down by a seasonally adjusted 6.5 per cent from the opening three months of the year, when it expanded by 4.4 per cent.
Statistics Iceland warned, however, that abnormally large changes recorded in inventories of fisheries products between the opening two quarters of 2011 to 2013 have resulted in the seasonal adjustment between the three-month periods being less secure.