The Iceland business environment is quite accommodating – ranking 20th out of 190 nations in The World Bank’s 2017 Ease of Doing Business survey. Although the social-market economy mixes free-market principles with social welfare, government consumption and intervention is less than in other Nordic countries. The economy depends heavily on fish, fish products, aluminum, and ferrosilicon for export earnings, but has been able to diversify into manufacturing and service industries over the last decade. Such new growth sectors include software production, biotechnology and tourism. Perhaps the biggest downside of investing in an Iceland business is the nation’s size (or lack thereof). Iceland has a very small economy, subject to volatility in international markets and world prices for its main exports.