No McDonald's in Iceland Since 2009 2026
McDonald’s closed its three Icelandic restaurants on 31 October 2009 and has not returned, so Iceland has had no Big Mac price for over fifteen years.
Why Iceland has no Big Mac price
McDonald’s operated in Iceland from 1993 until 31 October 2009, with three restaurants, all in greater Reykjavík. Every one of them closed on the same day.
The cause was the 2008 banking crisis. The króna’s collapse roughly doubled the local-currency cost of imported beef, cheese and packaging — inputs the franchise agreement required be sourced to McDonald’s global specification. Just before closure a Big Mac meal in Reykjavík cost around 650 ISK, about $7.30 at the time, among the most expensive in the world. The franchisee, Jón Garðar Ögmundsson, sold over 10,000 burgers on the final day.
One correction worth making, because it recirculates every couple of years: Iceland’s McDonald’s did not close because of a boycott. It closed because an import-heavy supply chain stopped clearing at a collapsed exchange rate.
The three locations reopened within weeks as Metro, an Icelandic chain still trading in 2026. Metro’s advantage was precisely the one McDonald’s could not use: it can build its menu on local Icelandic beef, dairy and produce, which Iceland’s tariff structure shelters from import competition. Metro does not sell a Big Mac — its menu runs on local recipes.
For the index this makes Iceland an unusually clean case. There is a real Reykjavík Big Mac series from 1993 to 2009 and nothing after it, and the exit cause — currency collapse plus an import-dependent input basket — is itself a textbook purchasing-power story. That is why the country stays on the map with a note rather than a number.
Read the full story
This page is the short version. The full write-up goes through the timeline, the sources and the numbers that do exist.
Why there's no McDonald's in Iceland — full articleStatus at a glance
| McDonald's restaurants | None |
|---|---|
| Status | Exited 31 October 2009 — all three Reykjavík restaurants closed the same day |
| Closest local equivalent | Metro Heimsborgari · kr1,990 ISK (~$14.21) — not a McDonald's product, and not a Big Mac Index data point |
| Big Mac Index coverage | Not tracked — there is no Big Mac to price |
| Region | Europe |
| Sources | Wikipedia — McDonald's Iceland 2009 closure |
Frequently asked questions
Is there a McDonald’s in Iceland?
No. McDonald’s closed all three of its Icelandic restaurants on 31 October 2009 and has not reopened in the country since.
Why did McDonald’s leave Iceland?
The 2008 banking crisis collapsed the króna, which roughly doubled the local-currency cost of the imported beef, cheese and packaging that McDonald’s franchise standards required. It was not a boycott — the franchise economics simply stopped working.
What replaced McDonald’s in Iceland?
The three former locations were rebranded as Metro within weeks and are still trading in 2026. Metro uses local Icelandic beef and dairy and does not sell a Big Mac.
Why isn't Iceland in the Big Mac Index?
The Big Mac Index compares the price of one identical product across countries. Iceland has no McDonald's restaurant, so there is no Big Mac to price and The Economist publishes no row for it. We list Iceland with an editorial note explaining the absence instead of a number — see our methodology.
Dig deeper
- See all 76 countries on the interactive map
- Full 2026 country-by-country breakdown
- Limits of the Big Mac Index
- How I get this data (methodology)
- Know something this page gets wrong, or has a McDonald's opened since? Email me — corrections are credited inline.