Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) in Iceland
Iceland: Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) was 3.1% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Risk premium on lending in Iceland, 1992–2025
Source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF). Measured in lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %.
Analysis
The most recent figure for risk premium on lending in Iceland is 3.1%, measured in 2025.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 5.2% on the previous year and up 86.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, risk premium on lending in Iceland peaked at 7.6% in 2009 and was at its lowest, 1.7%, in 2015.
Iceland ranks 51st of 86 countries on this measure, in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 34 years of available data.
Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) in Iceland, year by year
| Year | lending rate minus treasury bill rate, % | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1992 | 2.7% | — |
| 1993 | 5.8% | +111.4% |
| 1994 | 5.6% | -2.4% |
| 1995 | 4.4% | -22.4% |
| 1996 | 5.5% | +25.3% |
| 1997 | 5.8% | +7.0% |
| 1998 | 5.4% | -7.9% |
| 1999 | 4.7% | -12.8% |
| 2000 | 5.7% | +21.1% |
| 2001 | 6.9% | +21.7% |
| 2002 | 7.4% | +6.3% |
| 2003 | 7.0% | -4.6% |
| 2004 | 6.0% | -14.8% |
| 2005 | 6.0% | +0.0% |
| 2006 | 4.5% | -24.8% |
| 2007 | 4.2% | -7.4% |
| 2008 | 1.8% | -55.8% |
| 2009 | 7.6% | +313.4% |
| 2010 | 3.6% | -52.6% |
| 2011 | 3.4% | -5.2% |
| 2012 | 2.8% | -19.1% |
| 2013 | 2.0% | -29.1% |
| 2014 | 1.7% | -12.4% |
| 2015 | 1.7% | -1.9% |
| 2016 | 2.0% | +16.2% |
| 2017 | 2.3% | +16.3% |
| 2018 | 2.2% | -1.9% |
| 2019 | 2.6% | +14.5% |
| 2020 | 3.8% | +47.4% |
| 2021 | 3.6% | -4.1% |
| 2022 | 2.5% | -31.7% |
| 2023 | 2.5% | +1.0% |
| 2024 | 3.0% | +19.6% |
| 2025 | 3.1% | +5.2% |
Iceland compared with similar countries
- Iceland's 3.1% is above the median for high income countries, which is 2.9%, 1.1× the median. (26 countries reporting)
- Iceland's 3.1% is above the median for Europe & Central Asia, which is 3.1%, 1.0× the median. (19 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %) 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 |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | +313.4% | 1.8% | 7.6% |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 5.0% | 2.7% | 5.8% | 8 |
| 2000s | 5.7% | 1.8% | 7.6% | 10 |
| 2010s | 2.4% | 1.7% | 3.6% | 10 |
| 2020s | 3.1% | 2.5% | 3.8% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More financial sector data for Iceland
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0025 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, US dollar, per capita 243.62 units per person (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per unit of GDP 0.0018 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve position in the IMF, SDR, per capita 177.89 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, annual growth rate 5.01 % change on previous year (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per unit of GDP 0.0025 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, US dollar, per capita 243.62 units per person (2025)
- Reserve tranche position, SDR, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is risk premium on lending in Iceland?
- Risk premium on lending in Iceland was 3.1% in 2025, according to International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF).
- What is the highest risk premium on lending recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 7.6% in 2009.
- What is the lowest risk premium on lending recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 1.7% in 2015.
- How does Iceland rank for risk premium on lending?
- Iceland ranks 51st out of 86 countries with data for 2025.
- Is risk premium on lending rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 86.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF), published as part of Risk premium on lending (lending rate minus treasury bill rate, %). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 34 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Risk premium on lending is the interest rate charged by banks on loans to private sector customers minus the "risk free" treasury bill interest rate at which short-term government securities are issued or traded in the market. In some countries this spread may be negative, indicating that the market considers its best corporate clients to be lower risk than the government. The terms and conditions attached to lending rates differ by country, however, limiting their comparability.