11 
trade (i. e. 699/0 of the exports and 589 of the imports). But though the 
shares of Great Britain and Denmark are now almost equal, such 
was not the case in former days, when the bulk of the trade was with 
Denmark. Imports from Denmark have not, however, materially de- 
creased, whereas exports from Iceland to that country show a marked 
decline. On the other hand, the trade with Spain and Italy has ex- 
panded considerably, and by far the greater part of Iceland's staple 
commodity, the saltfish, is bought by these countries, which formerly 
used to obtain their supplies from Danish export firms, while now the 
fish is in an ever increasing degree supplied to them directly by Ice- 
'andic wholesale merchants. 
As regards imports, Denmark is the country from which the greatest 
part of the goods comes, (or about one-third of the total value). These 
are commodities of various kinds; foodstuffs, as rye-meal and groceries, 
constituting the largest items. From Great Britain comes almost one- 
third of our imports, one-fourth of this being coal. Of other goods 
bought from Great Britain the biggest items are petroleum and wheat- 
flour. Third in order is Germany with something like one-eighth of 
the imports, especially sugar, hardware and footwear; and then Norway 
which is responsible for 10 per cent, chiefly wood and fishing gear. 
Imports from Spain are almost exclusively salt; and from Sweden 
mostly timber and articles of wood. 
Spain alone takes about one-third of all Icelandic exports, the 
greatest part of which is cured saltfish. Next comes Great Britain with 
rather more than one-seventh, taking the whole fresh fish output and 
the greater part of our uncured saltfish. Norway, Italy, Sweden and 
Denmark account for about one-tenth each. The heaviest items ex- 
ported to Norway are salted mutton, salted herring, and herring-oil, 
while Italy mostly imports saltfish (chiefly half-cured); Sweden takes 
mainly salted herring and herring-oil, whereas more or less of any 
article of export goes to Denmark; and Japan, a country with which 
Iceland had no direct dealings up to 1923, is now to some extent 
a buyer of our herring-guano and herring-oil.