Half of restaurant businesses reported losses in 2025

Half of the restaurant businesses surveyed reported losses in 2025, and wages now account for about half of their revenue, mbl.is reported. The survey found that 36 businesses had operated at a loss.

Einar Bárðarson, executive director of SVEIT, said the restaurant sector had been “thrown under the bus” in collective agreements reached two years ago. He said the industry’s operating model differs fundamentally from that of many other businesses.

In companies with standard daytime hours, evening and weekend work may be outside the usual schedule. For restaurants, those are peak periods, when most customers visit, most staff are working and activity is at its highest, Bárðarson said.

He argued that directing wage increases specifically at those hours affects the core of restaurant operations, not the margins. The sector is nearing its limits, he said, pointing to rising bankruptcies and fewer new businesses entering the industry.