Despite growing criticism of government performance, a majority of Icelanders remain positive about the year ahead, according to new survey results from Maskína.
Originally reported by Vísir, the polling shows that just over 54% of respondents describe themselves as optimistic about 2026.
A further 30% say they are moderately optimistic, suggesting a broadly hopeful outlook. By contrast, nearly 14% report feeling pessimistic about the coming year.
Public sentiment has changed little since last winter. When the same question was asked in December last year, optimism stood at 55%, although pessimism has edged upwards since then, rising from 10% to its current level.
Mixed Political Reviews 
Alþingi, Iceland’s Parliament. Photo: Páll Stefánsson.
Alongside questions about the future, participants were asked to evaluate how effectively parties in the current coalition government have delivered on their political agendas. Views were mixed.
The Independence Party received the strongest approval, with close to 42% of respondents saying it had performed well in implementing its policies. Support was lower for Viðreisn, which 36% rated positively, while 29% felt the same about the People’s Party.
Around one-third of respondents said the governing parties had achieved only moderate success.
At the same time, dissatisfaction was pronounced. More than a quarter of respondents said the Social Democratic Alliance had failed badly, while nearly one-third expressed the same view of Viðreisn.
The People’s Party fared worst in this regard, with 44% saying it had failed to deliver on its agenda.