Official statistics showed that Iceland's gross domestic product (GDP) decreased by a much smaller percentage in 2010 than it did in 2009.
The recession-bruised country's GDP contracted 3.5 percent last year, a significant drop from the 6.9 percent in 2009, Statistics Iceland said in a statement Tuesday.
Meanwhile, 2010 saw Iceland's exports and imports grow respectively by 1.1 percent and 3.9 percent, which "resulted in a surplus in the balance on goods and services of 162 billion ISK (1.4 billion U.S. dollars) in 2010 compared with 129 billion ISK (1.1 billion dollars) in 2009," the statement said.
In the fourth quarter of 2010, Iceland's GDP decreased by 1.5 percent from the previous quarter, and its exports and imports rose respectively by 3 percent by 10 percent, according to the statement.
Statistics Iceland said that it expects the Icelandic economy to show a rising trend from 2011.
Iceland's financial system collapsed in October 2008 as a result of the global financial crisis, and its economy suffered a severe recession./.