Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in New Zealand instead of Sweden, you would:

Health

be 49.5% more likely to be obese

In Sweden, 20.6% of adults are obese as of 2016. In New Zealand, that number is 30.8% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 50.7% less likely to be unemployed

In Sweden, 7.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In New Zealand, that number is 3.7% as of 2023.

pay a 42.2% lower top tax rate

Sweden has a top tax rate of 57.1% as of 2016. In New Zealand, the top tax rate is 33.0% as of 2016.

make 24.0% less money

Sweden has a GDP per capita of $64,200 as of 2023, while in New Zealand, the GDP per capita is $48,800 as of 2023.

Life

have 17.8% more children

In Sweden, there are approximately 10.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In New Zealand, there are 12.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 40.0% more likely to die during childbirth

In Sweden, approximately 5.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In New Zealand, 7.0 women do as of 2020.

be 49.6% more likely to die during infancy

In Sweden, approximately 2.3 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In New Zealand, on the other hand, 3.4 children do as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 16.7% less on education

Sweden spends 7.2% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. New Zealand spends 6.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 12.3% less on healthcare

Sweden spends 11.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In New Zealand, that number is 10.0% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 4.7 times more coastline

Sweden has a total of 3,218 km of coastline. In New Zealand, that number is 15,134 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, New Zealand Inland Revenue Department, Skatteverket.

New Zealand: At a glance

New Zealand (sometimes abbreviated NZ) is a sovereign country in Australia-Oceania, with a total land area of approximately 264,537 sq km. The Polynesian Maori reached New Zealand in about A.D. 800. In 1840, their chieftains entered into a compact with Britain, the Treaty of Waitangi, in which they ceded sovereignty to Queen Victoria while retaining territorial rights. That same year, the British began the first organized colonial settlement. A series of land wars between 1843 and 1872 ended with the defeat of the native peoples. The British colony of New Zealand became an independent dominion in 1907 and supported the UK militarily in both world wars. New Zealand's full participation in a number of defense alliances lapsed by the 1980s. In recent years, the government has sought to address longstanding Maori grievances.
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How big is New Zealand compared to Sweden? See an in-depth size comparison.

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