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Religion in Iceland
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Religion in Iceland
Religion in Iceland has been predominantly Christianity since its adoption as the state religion by the Althing under the influence of Olaf Tryggvason, the king of Norway, in 999/1000 CE. Until then, in the 9th and 10th centuries, the prevailing religion among the early Icelanders — who were mostly Norwegian settlers fleeing Harald Fairhair's monarchical centralisation in 872–930, with some Swedes and Norse British settlers — was the northern Germanic religion, which persisted for centuries even after the official Christianisation of the state.
Starting in the 1530s, Iceland, originally Roman Catholic and under the Danish crown, formally switched to Lutheranism with the Icelandic Reformation, which culminated in 1550. The Lutheran Church of Iceland has since then remained the country's state church. Freedom of religion has been granted to Icelandic citizens since 1874; the Church of Iceland is supported by the government, but all religions officially recognised in the state's civil registry receive support from a church tax (sóknargjald) owed by their respective populations of adherents over the age of sixteen, who are counted by the state's statistical office on a yearly basis; citizens who declare that they are not affiliated with any religion owe an equivalent tax to the University of Iceland.
Since the late 20th century, and especially in the early 21st century, religious life in Iceland has become more diverse, with a decline in the main forms of Christianity, the rise of unaffiliated people, and the emergence of new religions, notably Germanic Heathenism (or Heathenry; Germanic Neopaganism) in Iceland also called Ásatrú, which seeks to reconstruct the Germanic folk religion; a secular grouping of Humanism; Buddhism; Islam; Mesopotamian Zuism (Mesopotamian Neopaganism); and others.
As of 2025, Christians constituted 68.13% of the Icelandic population, a marked decline from the 97.8% observed in 1990 according to Statistics Iceland. Within the Christian category, 57.23% identified as Lutherans belonging to the Church of Iceland. This is a significant decrease from the 92.6% who identified this way in 1990. Other minor Lutheran free churches accounted for 5.28%, Roman Catholicism for 3.89%, and other Christian denominations for 1.73%. The Roman Catholic community has grown from 0.9% in 1990, and other Christian denominations saw growth mainly between 1990 and the 2010s, stabilizing thereafter.
The data for 2025 also indicate an increase in non-Christian religious affiliations and in those who identify as non-religious. Heathenry, a polytheistic religion native to Iceland, accounted for 1.56% of the population. Humanists made up 1.57%, Buddhists 0.42%, and Muslims 0.34%. Zuists and adherents to other religions represented 0.10% and 0.16%, respectively.
A growing segment of the population—19.79% as of 2025—adheres to religions, philosophies, or life stances not recognized in the civil registry, or did not declare any religious affiliation. This category has seen a substantial increase from 0.6% in 1990 and has tripled from 6.2% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of Icelanders who declared themselves explicitly unaffiliated with any religion, philosophy, or life stance was 7.75% in 2025, up from 1.3% in 1990.
When Iceland was first settled by Norwegians (but also by some Swedes and people from the Norse settlements in Britain) in the mid-9th century, approximately in 870, it was inhabited by a small number of Irish Christian anchorites known as papar (singular papi). When Scandinavians began to arrive in larger numbers, the anchorites left of their own or were driven out. The migration of Norwegians was partly in response to the politics of Harald Fairhair, who was unifying Norway under a centralised monarchy.
The first Icelanders, though accustomed to a society in which the monarch was essential for religious life, did not establish a new monarchy in the colony, but rather a yearly assembly of free men, the Althing. The "things" were assemblies of free men who governed Germanic societies, and they were led by a holy kingship. The Icelandic thing developed peculiar characteristics; in place of the loyalty to a holy king, the Icelanders established the loyalty to a law code, first composed by Úlfljót who studied Norwegian laws.
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Religion in Iceland
Religion in Iceland has been predominantly Christianity since its adoption as the state religion by the Althing under the influence of Olaf Tryggvason, the king of Norway, in 999/1000 CE. Until then, in the 9th and 10th centuries, the prevailing religion among the early Icelanders — who were mostly Norwegian settlers fleeing Harald Fairhair's monarchical centralisation in 872–930, with some Swedes and Norse British settlers — was the northern Germanic religion, which persisted for centuries even after the official Christianisation of the state.
Starting in the 1530s, Iceland, originally Roman Catholic and under the Danish crown, formally switched to Lutheranism with the Icelandic Reformation, which culminated in 1550. The Lutheran Church of Iceland has since then remained the country's state church. Freedom of religion has been granted to Icelandic citizens since 1874; the Church of Iceland is supported by the government, but all religions officially recognised in the state's civil registry receive support from a church tax (sóknargjald) owed by their respective populations of adherents over the age of sixteen, who are counted by the state's statistical office on a yearly basis; citizens who declare that they are not affiliated with any religion owe an equivalent tax to the University of Iceland.
Since the late 20th century, and especially in the early 21st century, religious life in Iceland has become more diverse, with a decline in the main forms of Christianity, the rise of unaffiliated people, and the emergence of new religions, notably Germanic Heathenism (or Heathenry; Germanic Neopaganism) in Iceland also called Ásatrú, which seeks to reconstruct the Germanic folk religion; a secular grouping of Humanism; Buddhism; Islam; Mesopotamian Zuism (Mesopotamian Neopaganism); and others.
As of 2025, Christians constituted 68.13% of the Icelandic population, a marked decline from the 97.8% observed in 1990 according to Statistics Iceland. Within the Christian category, 57.23% identified as Lutherans belonging to the Church of Iceland. This is a significant decrease from the 92.6% who identified this way in 1990. Other minor Lutheran free churches accounted for 5.28%, Roman Catholicism for 3.89%, and other Christian denominations for 1.73%. The Roman Catholic community has grown from 0.9% in 1990, and other Christian denominations saw growth mainly between 1990 and the 2010s, stabilizing thereafter.
The data for 2025 also indicate an increase in non-Christian religious affiliations and in those who identify as non-religious. Heathenry, a polytheistic religion native to Iceland, accounted for 1.56% of the population. Humanists made up 1.57%, Buddhists 0.42%, and Muslims 0.34%. Zuists and adherents to other religions represented 0.10% and 0.16%, respectively.
A growing segment of the population—19.79% as of 2025—adheres to religions, philosophies, or life stances not recognized in the civil registry, or did not declare any religious affiliation. This category has seen a substantial increase from 0.6% in 1990 and has tripled from 6.2% in 2010. Meanwhile, the percentage of Icelanders who declared themselves explicitly unaffiliated with any religion, philosophy, or life stance was 7.75% in 2025, up from 1.3% in 1990.
When Iceland was first settled by Norwegians (but also by some Swedes and people from the Norse settlements in Britain) in the mid-9th century, approximately in 870, it was inhabited by a small number of Irish Christian anchorites known as papar (singular papi). When Scandinavians began to arrive in larger numbers, the anchorites left of their own or were driven out. The migration of Norwegians was partly in response to the politics of Harald Fairhair, who was unifying Norway under a centralised monarchy.
The first Icelanders, though accustomed to a society in which the monarch was essential for religious life, did not establish a new monarchy in the colony, but rather a yearly assembly of free men, the Althing. The "things" were assemblies of free men who governed Germanic societies, and they were led by a holy kingship. The Icelandic thing developed peculiar characteristics; in place of the loyalty to a holy king, the Icelanders established the loyalty to a law code, first composed by Úlfljót who studied Norwegian laws.