Iceland’s Prime Minister addresses maternity leave miscalculation affecting public sector employment figures

In a recent announcement, it has come to light that approximately 5,000 individuals on maternity leave were incorrectly counted as public sector employees in Iceland. This miscalculation by Statistics Iceland has resulted in a significant overestimation of public sector employment figures released in July.

Prime Minister Bjarni Benediktsson noted the error in a Facebook post, revealing that the discrepancy was identified following a request for specialized processing of the data after the public employment statistics were published. He indicated that this mistake has led to an exaggerated increase in the number of public sector workers alongside the extended maternity leave period.

Benediktsson emphasized that nearly 90% of the job growth over the past year has actually occurred in the private sector, contradicting what is often asserted in public discussions regarding employment. He pointed out that the relative growth in both the private and public sectors is roughly the same, at around 1%.

He criticized the inaccuracies in public data, arguing that they undermine genuine discourse about government expansion that lacks a factual basis. Furthermore, he warned that when economic growth is underestimated, it impacts overall economic assessments.

The Prime Minister urged the media and the public to hold the government accountable regarding public expenditure, asserting that fiscal restraint in public operations is a declared priority to support the ongoing reduction of inflation and interest rates. As of now, the results of the data processing that Benediktsson requested have not been made available on the Statistics Iceland website.