electionstracker

Iceland 1949 parliamentary election

What was the result of the 1949 parliamentary election in Iceland?

Independence Party won 19 of 52 seats with 39.5% of the vote. 89.0% of registered voters cast a ballot.

  • Iceland
  • Held:
  • Final result
  • ParlGov, read 5 October 2026

Which party won the most seats?

Final results from ParlGov, read : Independence Party won 19 of 52 seats with 39.5% of the vote; 89.0% of registered voters cast a ballot, up 1.6 points on 1946.

  • Independence Party 19 −1 seat 39.5% 0.0 points
  • Progressive Party 17 +4 seats 24.5% +1.4 points
  • People's Unity Party – Socialist Party 9 −1 seat 19.5% 0.0 points
  • Social Democratic Party 7 −2 seats 16.5% −1.3 points
  • Seats won
  • Change on the previous election at the right
  • Share of the vote
  • Share at the previous election
  • Change in points at the right

Changes are against the Iceland 1946 parliamentary election, party by party.

27 of 52 seats make a majority

Key numbers

  1. 39.5%

    Share of the vote won by Independence Party

    Independence Party won 19 of 52 seats. A majority needs 27.

  2. +4 seats

    Seats gained by Progressive Party

    The largest gain in seats compared with 1946. Social Democratic Party lost 2 seats.

  3. 89.0%

    Voter turnout

    Up 1.6 points on 1946.

Seats and votes by party

PartySeats± seats%± pointsVotes
Independence Party19−139.50.028,546
Progressive Party17+424.5+1.417,659
People's Unity Party – Socialist Party9−119.50.014,077
Social Democratic Party7−216.5−1.311,937

± is the change against the Iceland 1946 parliamentary election, party by party.

Votes by party
  • Independence Party 28,546
  • Progressive Party 17,659
  • People's Unity Party – Socialist Party 14,077
  • Social Democratic Party 11,937

ParlGov lists parties with at least 1 percent of the vote or 2 seats, so the rows do not add up to the valid votes.

How many people voted?

89.0% of the 82,481 registered voters cast a ballot (73,432 ballots), up 1.6 points on 1946. 72,219 of them were valid votes.

How do the votes compare with the seats?

  • Independence Party39.5% of votes36.5% of seats
  • Progressive Party24.5% of votes32.7% of seats
  • People's Unity Party – Socialist Party19.5% of votes17.3% of seats
  • Social Democratic Party16.5% of votes13.5% of seats
Each party's share of the vote (outlined) and of the seats (filled)

The Gallagher index of disproportionality is 6.7 (0 when seats follow votes exactly); the effective number of parties is 3.6 by votes and 3.5 by seats; Independence Party led Progressive Party by 15.0 points of the vote.

Time and source Data as of