Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iceland instead of El Salvador, you would:
Health
live 8.3 years longer
In El Salvador, the average life expectancy is 75 years (72 years for men, 79 years for women) as of 2022. In Iceland, that number is 84 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022.
be 11.0% less likely to be obese
In El Salvador, 24.6% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Iceland, that number is 21.9% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 5.9 times more money
El Salvador has a GDP per capita of $9,400 as of 2022, while in Iceland, the GDP per capita is $55,600 as of 2022.
be 66.9% less likely to live below the poverty line
In El Salvador, 26.6% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Iceland, however, that number is 8.8% as of 2017.
be 26.3% more likely to be unemployed
In El Salvador, 3.0% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Iceland, that number is 3.8% as of 2022.
pay a 54.3% higher top tax rate
El Salvador has a top tax rate of 30.0% as of 2016. In Iceland, the top tax rate is 46.3% as of 2016.
Life
be 93.0% less likely to die during childbirth
In El Salvador, approximately 43.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Iceland, 3.0 women do as of 2020.
be 86.4% less likely to die during infancy
In El Salvador, approximately 12.1 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 26.3% fewer children
In El Salvador, there are approximately 17.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Iceland, there are 12.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Basic Needs
be 58.7% more likely to have internet access
In El Salvador, approximately 63.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Iceland, about 100.0% do as of 2021.
Expenditures
spend 87.8% more on education
El Salvador spends 4.1% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Iceland spends 7.7% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
Geography
see 16.2 times more coastline
El Salvador has a total of 307 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Ministry of Finance, Directorate of Internal Revenue.
Iceland: At a glance
How big is Iceland compared to El Salvador? See an in-depth size comparison.