Quality of life comparison
If you lived in United Kingdom instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
live 1.7 years less
In Iceland, the average life expectancy is 84 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022. In United Kingdom, that number is 82 years (80 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2022.
be 26.9% more likely to be obese
In Iceland, 21.9% of adults are obese as of 2016. In United Kingdom, that number is 27.8% of people as of 2016.
Economy
be 12.4% less likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In United Kingdom, that number is 3.2% as of 2019.
make 20.5% less money
Iceland has a GDP per capita of $52,300 as of 2020, while in United Kingdom, the GDP per capita is $41,600 as of 2020.
be 2.1 times more likely to live below the poverty line
In Iceland, 8.8% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In United Kingdom, however, that number is 18.6% as of 2017.
Life
be 75.0% more likely to die during childbirth
In Iceland, approximately 4.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In United Kingdom, 7.0 women do as of 2017.
be 2.3 times more likely to die during infancy
In Iceland, approximately 1.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In United Kingdom, on the other hand, 3.8 children do as of 2022.
have 16.7% fewer children
In Iceland, there are approximately 13.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In United Kingdom, there are 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 31.6% less on education
Iceland spends 7.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2018. United Kingdom spends 5.2% of total GDP on education as of 2018.
spend 18.6% more on healthcare
Iceland spends 8.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In United Kingdom, that number is 10.2% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 2.5 times more coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In United Kingdom, that number is 12,429 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
United Kingdom: At a glance
How big is United Kingdom compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.