Iceland

Parliament

Political system
Parliamentary system
Structure of parliament
Unicameral
IPU membership
Yes

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Althingi (Parliament)
Chamber name
Althingi (Parliament)
Structure & status of parliament
Lower chamber
Parliamentary term (years)
4

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1951
IPU Geopolitical Group/s
Twelve Plus Group

Speaker

Official title
Speaker of the Althingi
Speaker
Birgir Ármannsson (Male)
Date of birth: 12 Jun 1968
Term
01 Dec 2021
Additional information

Elected on 1 Dec. 2021.

Speaker terms

No information available

Secretary general

Official title
Secretary General
Secretary General
Ragna Árnadóttir (Female)
Term
01 Sep 2019
Notes

Appointed on 1 Sep. 2019.

Members

Statutory number of members
63
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected
Directly elected members
63
Current number of members
63
Men
Click for historical data
Women
Click for historical data
Statutory number of members per country
63
Population (in thousands)
388
Inhabitants per parliamentarian
6,159

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members
48.7
(2021-11)
Youngest member
Lilja Rannveig Sigurgeirsdóttir (Female)
Youngest member (years)
25
Oldest member
Tómas A. Tómasson (Male)
Oldest member (years)
72
Number of members, by age (2021-11)
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Male 0 1 3 5 4 13 6 1 0 0 33
Female 0 4 5 8 2 9 2 0 0 0 30
Totals per age interval 0 5 8 13 6 22 8 1 0 0 63
Total <= 45: 26 Total >= 46: 37
Percentage of members, by age
Age at the last election or renewal Overall Male Female
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger
7.9% 1.6% 6.3%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger
20.6% 6% 14.3%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger
41.3% 14% 27.0%

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups
No
Electoral quota for women
Yes

Notes: Voluntary political party quotas.

Sources: Cf. individual party statues.

Youth quota
No

Links to additional information

Parliamentary website
List of members
Rules of procedure/Standing Orders
Constitution

Historical data for IPU membership

Historical data for IPU membership
Year IPU membership
2020-09
List of values for 2020-09
No
2019-04
List of values for 2019-04
No
2018-06
List of values for 2018-06
No