Westfjords Region

The Westfjords exist because fjords exist—and because geographic isolation created Iceland's most dramatic demographic collapse and its most surprising revival. With just 7,168 residents (2024), Vestfirðir is Iceland's least populous region—down from 13,443 people (14% of Iceland's population) in 1920. The decline traces to fishing quota privatization in the 1980s: when harvest rights became tradeable, they consolidated into distant corporate hands, gutting fishing-dependent villages like Strandabyggð (down 35% since 1998 alone). Ísafjörður (2,679 residents) persists as regional hub, but surrounding villages approach abandonment. Yet 2024 data reveals unexpected reversal: aquaculture now generates ISK 2.5 billion in wages (€17.1 million) in the first nine months—eight times 2013 levels in real terms. Aquaculture labor income exceeds tourism-related wages by 70%. Approximately 280 workers monthly receive aquaculture wages, representing over 9% of total regional labor income. The pivot works because fjords provide sheltered salmon-farming waters that require minimal infrastructure. Ísafjörður municipality, after shrinking 800 residents between 1998-2017, is slowly growing again. By 2026, the Westfjords test whether fish farming can reverse a century of depopulation—or whether environmental limits on aquaculture create the next boom-bust cycle.