This paper reports on the results of a bacteriological analysis of 7913 samples of shrimp from 26 Icelandic factories over a 6-year period. The results showed that the geometric mean of APC (at 358C) was 1718 per g and 57% of the samples had APC under 1000 per g. Some 70% of the samples had less than one coliform per g and 99.9% of the samples had less than one faecal coliform per g. Staphylococcus aureus was detected in less than 0.2% of the samples. The results show improvement in bacterial profiles, mainly total coliforms, over the 6-year period.