Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iceland instead of Norway, you would:
Health
live 1.1 years longer
In Norway, the average life expectancy is 83 years (80 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022. In Iceland, that number is 84 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
be 30.7% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Norway, 12.7% live below the poverty line as of 2019. In Iceland, however, that number is 8.8% as of 2017.
make 17.6% less money
Norway has a GDP per capita of $67,500 as of 2022, while in Iceland, the GDP per capita is $55,600 as of 2022.
be 17.3% more likely to be unemployed
In Norway, 3.2% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Iceland, that number is 3.8% as of 2022.
pay a 20.2% higher top tax rate
Norway has a top tax rate of 38.5% as of 2017. In Iceland, the top tax rate is 46.3% as of 2016.
Life
be 28.6% less likely to die during infancy
In Norway, approximately 2.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Iceland, on the other hand, 1.6 children do as of 2022.
have 21.2% more children
In Norway, there are approximately 10.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Iceland, there are 12.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 50.0% more likely to die during childbirth
In Norway, approximately 2.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Iceland, 3.0 women do as of 2020.
Expenditures
spend 15.8% less on healthcare
Norway spends 11.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Iceland, that number is 9.6% of GDP as of 2020.
spend 30.5% more on education
Norway spends 5.9% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Iceland spends 7.7% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
Geography
see 80.2% less coastline
Norway has a total of 25,148 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Norwegian Tax Administration, Directorate of Internal Revenue.
Iceland: At a glance
How big is Iceland compared to Norway? See an in-depth size comparison.