Ossur Ltd. is still growing internationally and has recently acquired UK company Innovative Medical Products Holdings Ltd (IMP). The company manufactures orthopaedic products and is the UK sector's largest sales and distribution business.

Iceland moves up two seats on OECD´s list of the world´s richest nations. With a GDP per capita of nearly 33,000 USD Iceland ranks #6 worldwide according to the publication OECD in Figures 2005. The increase in GDP per capita in Iceland was 11% from 2003 to 2004.

68% of Icelanders uses the internet to obtain information from public authorities, 36% downloads forms and 23% sends completed forms over the internet. Iceland is one of Europe´s leading countries in E-government according to information from Eurostat, covering 30 European countries; the EU25 member states, Iceland, Norway, Bulgaria, Romania and Turkey.

With the acquisition of Pickenpack – Hussman & Hahn Seafood, Icelandic Group Plc strengthens its position as a global leader in the sales and production of seafood.

Actavis Group has agreed to acquire the human generics business of the US listed pharmaceutical company, Alpharma Inc. (NYSE: ALO). This deal brings together two premier generic pharmaceutical businesses with complementary strengths in Europe and the US.

According to OECD Broadband statistics for June 2005 the average broadband penetration within OECD is 11.8 per hundred inhabitants. South Korea ranks #1 with 25.5, followed by the Netherlands (22.5), Denmark (21.8) and Iceland (21.7).

Iceland ranks #1 of 159 countries included in the Transparency International Corruption Perceptions Index 2005. Iceland´s CPI 2005 score of 9.7 and CPI 2004 score of 9.5 is the top score overall.

Iceland is one of the countries of the world where doing business is easiest according to the report "Doing Business in 2006: Creating Jobs", cosponsored by the World Bank and the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank Group.

Iceland moves up 3 places in World Economic Forum’s Global Competitiveness Report and ranks #7 of 117 nations compared. All the Nordic countries are ranked among the ten most competitive economies with Finland #1 overall. The USA was ranked second and Sweden third.

Iceland´s expenditure on educational institutions, relative to gross domestic product was, 7.4% in 2002 which puts Iceland in first place among the OECD countries. The USA was second with 7.2% of GDP according to the OECD publication "Education at a Glance, OECD Indicators 2005".

The Nordic Council of Ministers, in collaboration with the Danish Think Tank “Mandag Morgen”, has published a report entitled “The Nordic region as a global winner – on the track of the Nordic competitive model”. Equality, confidence and flexibility are among the Nordic values identified as ideal conditions for competitive ability and growth.

deCODE has received a grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to use its population resources in Iceland as well as additional studies in the US and Europe to search for gene variants that play an important role in nicotine dependence.

Foreign Direct Investment in Iceland increased by 14% in 2004 compared to 2003 according to provisional statistics published by the Central Bank of Iceland.

Life Science in Iceland is represented at the BIO2005 convention in Philadelphia. A new publication has been launched by the Invest in Iceland Agency to promote Icelandic Life Science.

Iceland is the World´s second most successful economy in exploiting developments in information and communications technology according to the World Economic Forum. Topping the list is Singapore. Finland is third, followed by Denmark and the US which drops to number 5, following a three-year reign at the top.

Iceland ranks among the top 10 “free” nations of the world, according to the 2005 Index of Economic Freedom, published by the Wall Street Journal and The Heritage Foundation.

Century Aluminum Company (NASDAQ:CENX) has announced that Norðurál ehf., a wholly owned subsidiary, has signed an agreement to purchase approximately 70 MW of additional electric power for its primary aluminum reduction plant at Grundartangi, Iceland. The additional power would permit Norðurál to expand the plant’s capacity to 260,000  metric tons per year (mtpy). 

Mosaic Fashions, created by the merger of Oasis Stores and Karen Miller in 2004, is preparing for listing on the Iceland Stock Exchange as the first non-Icelandic business to be listed there. Mosaic Fashions, the owner of some of the UK´s leading women´s fashions brands, will also be one of the largest and most profitable companies on the Stock Exchange. The intention is to raise £40 million.

Research and development intensity in Iceland ranks number 3 along with Japan´s according to Eurostat. Total R&D expenditure in Iceland was 3.1% of GDP in 2002 and R&D expenditure in the business enterprise sector was 1.8% placing Iceland among the top 5 European countries.

Iceland increases its global competitiveness according to the IMD World Competitiveness Yearbook 2005 and now ranks number 4 globally, following US, Hong Kong and Singapore. Last year Iceland ranked fifth. This result again puts Iceland at first place in Europe for competitiveness, outperforming the continent´s – and some of the world´s – biggest industrial nations. Finland, in sixth place overall, ranks second in Europe, followed by Denmark, Switzerland and Luxembourg.