Published on and written by Cyril Jarnias
Expatriating to Iceland isn’t just about changing countries: it’s about entering a tiny society, very egalitarian, hyper-connected, perched on a volcanic island in the middle of the North Atlantic. Behind the clichés of fjords, northern lights, and hot springs, daily life is built on very specific social, administrative, and cultural codes. Ignoring them complicates integration; understanding them in advance makes everything easier, from your first doctor’s appointment to sharing coffee in a heitur pottur (hot bath).
A Small Nordic Society, Very Safe and Very Expensive
Iceland has just over 400,000 inhabitants, making it the most sparsely populated country in Europe per square kilometer. Most people live in the Reykjavik area, with other significant towns being Akureyri and Keflavík. This small scale creates a very close-knit society, both welcoming and difficult for a newcomer to break into.
The country is regularly ranked among the best in terms of peace, safety, quality of life, and equality, with a very low crime rate allowing great freedom in daily life. However, the cost of living is one of the highest in the world, impacting housing, food, clothing, leisure, and alcohol, which are generally more expensive than in most European or North American countries.
To measure the gap, just compare the prices to those in the United States, often used as a statistical benchmark.
Overall Cost of Living Comparison with the United States
| Expense Category | Iceland vs. United States |
|---|---|
| Overall cost of living | +40 to +46% |
| Restaurants | +46 to +50% |
| Groceries | +27 to +45% |
| Local transportation | +75% |
| Rent (average) | +12 to +22% |
| Clothing | approximately 2x |
| Local purchasing power | –22.5% |
Even within the country, Reykjavik stands out: its daily life is 70% more expensive than in Helsinki, about 80% more than in Norwich, and over 300% more than in Ho Chi Minh City. For an expatriate, this economic dimension is not just a budget matter; it influences how you work, consume, go out… and therefore how you integrate socially.
An Egalitarian, Informal, and Very Direct Culture
Iceland belongs to the Nordic family but retains its own character. Egalitarianism is taken very far. There is no historical aristocracy, hierarchical gaps are small, and most institutions operate on a cooperative and contractual basis (strong unions, collective bargaining, high trust in the welfare state).
In daily life and at work, this translates into several striking features.
Equality at the Heart of the System
The country is presented as a champion of gender equality: near absence of a pay gap for the same job, generous parental leave shared between both parents, requirement for companies with more than 25 employees to prove they apply equal pay. Boards of directors must comply with gender quotas, and female labor force participation is one of the highest in the OECD.
This egalitarian culture goes beyond the gender issue: relationships between managers and employees, professors and students, doctors and patients, are meant to be horizontal. Everyone is expected to take initiative, be responsible, without hiding behind their title or rank.
Straightforward Communication
For a French speaker, the Icelandic directness can be surprising. The norm is to say things clearly, without rhetorical wrapping or repeated “pleases,” especially since there is no direct equivalent of that word in Icelandic. Politeness comes more through tone, respecting the other person’s time, and frequent thanks (takk, takk fyrir).
This way of speaking is perceived locally as a form of respect: you don’t waste your interlocutor’s time, you express your opinion without pretense. For an expatriate used to very softened phrasing, it can seem abrupt, even brusque, even though the intention is not at all aggressive.
Universal First Names… Even with the President
Another culture shock: the near-total abandonment of titles. Everyone is called by their first name, from colleagues to the CEO, including doctors and teachers. This stems from the Icelandic naming system, based on patronymics (‑son, ‑dóttir) rather than a fixed family name, but also from the horizontal culture. Translating “Mr. Einarsson” doesn’t really make sense; you simply say Jón, or Jón Einarsson if needed.
To integrate better, it’s best to accept and adopt a direct communication style, rather than insisting on overly elaborate forms of politeness imported from other cultural contexts.
The National Mantra: Þetta reddast
In the background, you often hear Þetta reddast, literally “it will work out.” It’s more than a joke: a philosophy that values adaptability, collective confidence, not panicking when plans change—whether a storm closes a road or a project derails. For someone from a highly planned environment, this faith in last-minute improvisation can be unsettling… but it colors the way people work, travel, and organize events.
Language and Communication Codes: Icelandic Asserting Itself Deeply
Iceland is officially bilingual in practice: almost the entire population speaks excellent English, especially in the capital. But the national language remains Icelandic (Íslenska), very close to Old Norse, with complex grammar (four cases, three genders, specific alphabet) and a strong preservation movement.
For practical life, you can get by in English for a long time. To truly enter society, Icelandic quickly becomes essential.
Why Icelandic Matters More Than You Think
Icelandic is the language of administration, schools, hospitals, unions, housing leases, and most websites (public portals, health services, etc.). Key procedures—registering with the national registry, using digital health platforms (Heilsuvera), reading an employment contract—are essentially done in this language.
In international sectors like IT, finance, or tourism, English may suffice for daily work. However, to secure a stable position or advance outside these highly globalized fields, understanding and speaking Icelandic becomes a significant advantage, often indispensable.
On a social level, the effort to speak the language, even clumsily, is greatly appreciated. It opens Icelandic social circles more easily, especially outside Reykjavik.
A Preserved Language, Driven by Digital Technology
Icelandic has changed very little since the time of the sagas. This historical continuity fuels national pride but poses a challenge in the digital age: how to exist in interfaces, voice assistants, global applications? The country has therefore launched language technology projects (like the Samrómur voice corpora) to keep the language alive in modern tools. For an expatriate, this means many local digital services (public websites, health portals, e-government) will be first, or even exclusively, in Icelandic.
Getting help from colleagues or taking Icelandic courses is a strategic investment for navigating the local digital ecosystem more easily, not just a cultural gesture.
Naming System, Politeness, and Small Daily Customs
Beyond language, a number of micro-codes structure social life. They seem trivial, but respecting them greatly facilitates being welcomed.
Patronymics: Understanding the ‑son and ‑dóttir
In Iceland, most last names are actually patronymics or, more rarely, matronymics. The last name is formed from the father’s (or mother’s) first name, followed by ‑son for a boy or ‑dóttir for a girl. Jón Einarsson therefore means “Jón, son of Einar.” Two siblings won’t necessarily share a common “last name” in the French sense.
For an expatriate in Iceland, several adaptations are needed regarding the use of names. You should not address someone by their last name as a sign of respect, as that is not customary. Additionally, contacts or files are sorted by first name, not patronymic. Finally, you must accept that the administrative obsession with ‘last name,’ common in other countries, does not really apply in this cultural context.
Entering People’s Homes: Shoes, Gifts, and Coffee
The home is an important space in Icelandic social life. Being invited is not trivial. A few implicit rules to know:
– You always take off your shoes at the entrance, unless the host insists you keep them on.
– Arriving with a small gift – flowers, chocolate, a bottle of wine – is well-regarded.
– Coffee is almost a welcoming ritual: it’s rare not to be offered a cup, even several.
On the other hand, avoid asking a thousand personal questions right away: society values discretion and respect for privacy. Bonds form over time, through shared activities rather than immediate confessions.
Tipping, Food, and Tap Water
In cafes and restaurants, tipping is not a cultural obligation. Service is included in the prices, and employees are paid accordingly. Leaving a few coins in a jar is not shocking, but not doing so is not frowned upon.
At a restaurant or at someone’s home, finishing your plate is considered good manners. Wasting food is frowned upon in a country marked by a long tradition of frugality and winter storage.
Finally, water deserves almost a chapter of its own. Tap water (kranavatn) is exceptionally pure, whether from the urban network or rivers and waterfalls. Buying bottled mineral water is considered unnecessary, even unseemly: some vendors won’t hesitate to tell you so.
Working in Iceland: Flat Hierarchies, Flexible Hours, Strong Unions
For an expatriate of working age, Icelandic professional culture weighs heavily on the settlement experience. It combines reasonable hours, a strong desire for work-life balance, and a highly unionized environment.
Working Hours and Flexibility
The standard weekly hours are around 37.5 to 40 hours, including breaks. A pilot project on a shorter workweek has even led a large part of the workforce to benefit from reduced hours (e.g., 36 hours) without a pay cut. Many companies offer flexible start times between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m., and it’s common to leave earlier on Fridays.
Typical day: two coffee breaks, a lunch break (often 30 to 60 minutes), leaving on time. Extended presenteeism is not valued. What counts is efficiency.
Minimum legal number of paid vacation days an employee is entitled to in France.
Unions and Contracts: Highly Structured Frameworks
Nearly all employees belong to a union. Collective agreements set minimum wages, bonuses, working conditions, training rights, sick pay, etc. A written employment contract is mandatory within two months of hiring and must specify hours, salary, pension, union affiliation, etc.
For an expatriate, this means: adapting to a new culture, managing distance from family and friends, and learning a new language.
– Well-defined rights, but
– the obligation to become familiar with a highly regulated system, often in Icelandic.
Unions in Iceland offer legal assistance in case of workplace conflicts. However, finding a job as a foreigner can be difficult, especially without proficiency in Icelandic, as the labor market is small and heavily relies on networks.
Management Style: Informal but Demanding
Companies generally operate with few hierarchical levels. You use first names with everyone, give your opinion in meetings, decisions are made quickly, and employees are expected to be autonomous. A formal structure still exists, but information flows less filtered than elsewhere.
The flip side is that you will be judged on your ability to take responsibility, propose solutions, and not hide behind the hierarchy. Direct communication applies here too: if something is wrong, you will be told quite clearly, and the same frankness is expected in return.
An Ultra-Digital Country Still Attached to Its Traditions
Iceland is one of the most connected countries in the world: about 98% of the population uses the Internet, the vast majority are on social media, and government services are massively digitized. At the same time, society clings to its festivals, sagas, and superstitions.
Advanced E-Government
The government uses digital services as the main channel for interacting with citizens. The platform Ísland.is centralizes numerous procedures; a dedicated entity (Digital Iceland) drives this transition. The country ranks very high in international e-government indices.
For an expatriate, this “hyper-digitalization” has two direct effects:
– you need to quickly obtain your identification number (kennitala), essential for practically everything (bank, healthcare, lease, employment contract, school registration);
– you need to get used to managing interactions with the administration via online portals, often in Icelandic.
Social media are used as political tools by the government, for example to publish a draft constitution and gather citizen feedback, organize tourism campaigns like “Inspired by Iceland” and “Iceland wants to be your friend,” or use Facebook to influence the country’s international perception.
Traditions, Folklore, and Holidays
Despite this modernity, a significant part of collective life remains structured by traditions:
– Þorrablót (mid-winter festival) and its buffets of þorramatur (fermented or smoked meats and fish like shark, sheep’s head, pickled ram’s testicles).
– The trilogy Bolludagur – Sprengidagur – Öskudagur (beginning of Lent) centered on cream puffs, very hearty meals, and a “carnival” where children dress up and sing for candy.
– The 13 Icelandic Yule Lads, folklore characters who bring gifts or rotten potatoes in children’s shoes before Christmas.
– The réttir, autumn roundup of sheep from the highlands, a real social event in rural areas.
Icelanders observe certain beliefs: bringing bread and salt when entering a new home to ensure abundance, avoiding giving a knife to prevent severing a relationship, and being wary of places said to be inhabited by trolls or the “hidden people.”
A Life Shaped by Nature
The volcanic environment and changeable weather are not just tourist backdrops: they impact daily life. Closed roads in winter, sudden storms, very short days in winter and nearly non-existent nights in summer… Flexibility is not just cultural; it is imposed by the climate.
The relationship with nature is therefore marked by respect: the “Leave No Trace” principle is deeply ingrained. Walking off trails, trampling fragile moss (which takes decades to regenerate), off-road driving, or camping outside designated areas are both socially frowned upon and heavily penalized.
Again, this is not just militant environmentalism: the territory is genuinely fragile, and the country relies on collective responsibility – residents and visitors alike – to protect it.
Geothermal Pools: The Nerve Center of Social Life
To understand the Icelandic social fabric, just spend a few evenings at a municipal pool. In a country where swimming is learned very young (mandatory lessons at school, babies in “pool” sessions with parents), these places are not just for sports: they are open-air discussion lounges.
The heitir pottar (hot tubs) are places of informal conversation where Icelanders discuss politics, weather, local news, and gossip. For an expatriate, they represent a unique opportunity to observe and integrate into local social life, sometimes allowing for stronger bonds than with work colleagues.
However, there is one non-negotiable rule: showering naked, with soap, before entering the water. Signs meticulously remind you which body parts to wash, and staff enforce this hygiene standard. Initial awkwardness for a newcomer is possible, but refusing is not a socially acceptable option.
Healthcare: An Effective Public System, but Rules to Learn
Leaving your country also means changing healthcare systems. Iceland operates on a universal Nordic model, heavily funded by taxes. The overall quality, measured by various international indices, is very high: long life expectancy, low infant mortality, modern hospitals.
How the System Works for an Expatriate
The system is public, centralized by the Ministry of Health. It includes:
– primary care centers (heilsugæslustöð) spread across seven regions;
– a few regional hospitals, and mainly two large facilities in Reykjavik (Landspítali, the national university hospital) and Akureyri.
To access care on the same basis as residents, you need:
1. to obtain a kennitala; 2. to register with the Icelandic Social Insurance Administration (Tryggingastofnun); 3. to wait six months of continuous legal residence to be automatically enrolled in the public health insurance (Sjúkratryggingar Íslands).
During those first six months, the situation differs by origin:
EEA/EFTA citizens can use their European Health Insurance Card to receive care at local rates. Non-EEA/EFTA nationals must take out a private insurance policy approved in Iceland, with a high minimum coverage (typically several million Icelandic krónur), and pay medical costs upfront before being reimbursed.
This delay does not prevent emergency care, but without coverage, the full bill is the patient’s responsibility.
Co-payments, Caps, and What Is Covered
Even after joining the public system, healthcare is not entirely free at the point of use. The model relies on capped co-payments:
– general practitioner visit: about 1,000 ISK;
– specialist consultation: around 2,500 ISK;
– emergency room visit: about 5,000 ISK;
– prescription medications: co-pay of about 1,000 ISK per prescription, with an annual cap after which the state covers the rest.
<!– wp:group {"className":"custom-block-keyfigure has-text-align-center","layout":{"type":"constrained"}}In Iceland, the monthly out-of-pocket healthcare cost is capped; the state covers expenses beyond a threshold of around 27,000 ISK.
Widely covered: consultations, hospitalizations, maternity, pediatric care, rehabilitation, home care, care-related transportation, and dental care for children and certain groups (elderly, pensioners). Adults, however, pay a large portion of their dental care and, in some cases, mental health consultations.
Medical Culture: Access, Language, and Digital Tools
All residents must choose a primary care physician at their local health center. Many speak English, especially in urban areas, but portals like Heilsuvera and online procedures remain largely in Icelandic. Once you have a kennitala, prescriptions are often handled electronically, simplifying renewals.
Here too, the Icelandic approach is pragmatic and direct. For an expatriate, it’s useful to:
– register at a health center quickly;
– keep your kennitala and insurance documents handy;
– keep all medical invoices for possible private reimbursements.
Integrating Socially: Effort Required, Patience Mandatory
One of the biggest gaps for newcomers lies in the social fabric. Icelandic society is welcoming, but friendship circles are often formed long ago, from childhood, school, university. You can be treated very well without being immediately admitted into an intimate circle.
Making the First Move… Again and Again
Many expatriates describe a similar trajectory: first friendships mainly with other foreigners, difficulty getting close to Icelanders, then a slow integration over years, through shared activities. You must accept that trust builds over time, and invitations into family life must be earned.
Practical levers to speed up this process are generally:
– joining a hiking club, choir, sports team, knitting or book club;
– regularly attending the same municipal pool and chatting in the hot tubs;
– participating in local events, neighborhood parties, association meetings;
– volunteering (Icelandic Red Cross, environmental initiatives, European solidarity programs).
Social media also plays a central role. Numerous Facebook groups serve as housing boards, expatriate exchange forums, and channels for announcing events. For finding an apartment, a job, or just acquaintances, using these channels is almost essential.
Accepting a Different Sociability
Icelanders have a form of initial reserve, sometimes interpreted as coldness, which stems as much from their culture as from the smallness of society: everyone knows everyone more or less, discretion and lack of excessive display are valued. Humor can be very dark, sarcastic, self-deprecating, where other cultures might expect more lightness or muted politeness.
Family celebrations in Iceland are generally focused on close Icelandic relatives. Major holidays like Christmas, Easter, and certain national holidays are mainly observed in the private sphere, perpetuating family traditions rather than being a form of willful exclusion.
Living with a Very High Cost of Living: A Context That Shapes Behavior
Even though the article focuses on cultural differences, it’s hard to ignore the impact of the cost of living on ways of living and behaving.
Price Level and Habits
Average gross salaries are high in Icelandic krónur, but the total bill – housing, food, transportation, leisure – quickly eats into the budget. In some Reykjavik neighborhoods, a two-bedroom apartment can exceed 300,000 ISK per month; a simple lunch downtown often approaches 3,000 ISK; a dinner for two at a restaurant typically runs around 16,000 ISK. Brand-name clothing or sports shoes often cost double the US prices.
This reality is reflected in: the way individuals interact with each other and their environment.
In Iceland, it’s common to resort to co-living or sharing an apartment, even for people in their thirties and forties. For groceries, residents typically favor discount supermarkets like Bónus or Krónan over small neighborhood stores. Finally, a certain frugality is observed regarding paid outings (bars, clubs, shows), with these expenses often concentrated during specific times of the year.
For an expatriate, the feeling can be ambivalent: on one hand, an orderly country, quality public services, strong social security; on the other, the need for a precise budget, financial planning, and sometimes the feeling of giving up habits (frequent restaurants, shopping).
Housing: A Country of Homeowners, Tight Rental Market
About 80% of homes are owner-occupied, leaving a fairly small and tight rental market, especially in the capital. The rise of tourism and short-term rental platforms has further reduced the supply of long-term leases.
Culturally, buying is seen as the norm and renting as a temporary solution. Written and registered leases, with deposits of 2 to 3 months’ rent, provide a legally protective framework for the tenant. For a newcomer, finding permanent housing can take time; it’s common to first go through rooms in someone’s home, shared apartments, or stays in guesthouses/Airbnbs.
Conclusion: A Demanding but Rewarding Country for Those Who Play by Local Rules
Settling in Iceland means dealing with a series of cultural gaps: flattened hierarchy, no-frills communication, flexible hours but structured by unions, a difficult but omnipresent language, absolute respect for nature, the importance of municipal pools, a high cost of living, and a dense social network that takes time to enter.
For an expatriate, finding your place requires: adaptability, social integration, learning the language, understanding local customs, and networking.
To succeed in integrating into Iceland, it is advised: to accept local directness and respond with the same honesty; to learn at least the basics of Icelandic, especially for administrative procedures and social life; to adopt daily rituals like taking off shoes at the door, showering naked in pool locker rooms, accepting coffee at someone’s home, and not tipping; to participate in shared activities through clubs, volunteering, public pools, or local events; and finally, to be patient, keeping in mind the philosophy of *Þetta reddast* (things will work out).
In return, Iceland offers a rare living environment: safety, efficient public services, omnipresent nature, a highly egalitarian society, and a high level of trust among citizens. For those ready to embrace its codes, this “land of fire and ice” can become much more than a postcard: a true home.
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Cyril Jarnias is an independent expert in international wealth management with over 20 years of experience. As an expatriate himself, he is dedicated to helping individuals and business leaders build, protect, and pass on their wealth with complete peace of mind.
On his website, cyriljarnias.com, he shares his expertise on international real estate, offshore company formation, and expatriation.
Thanks to his expertise, he offers sound advice to optimize his clients' wealth management. Cyril Jarnias is also recognized for his appearances in many prestigious media outlets such as BFM Business, les Français de l’étranger, Le Figaro, Les Echos, and Mieux vivre votre argent, where he shares his knowledge and know-how in wealth management.
