Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Ireland instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
live 2.0 years less
In Iceland, the average life expectancy is 84 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022. In Ireland, that number is 82 years (79 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2022.
be 15.5% more likely to be obese
In Iceland, 21.9% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Ireland, that number is 25.3% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 2.0 times more money
Iceland has a GDP per capita of $55,600 as of 2022, while in Ireland, the GDP per capita is $112,400 as of 2022.
be 18.2% more likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2022. In Ireland, that number is 4.5% as of 2022.
be 59.1% more likely to live below the poverty line
In Iceland, 8.8% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In Ireland, however, that number is 14.0% as of 2021.
Life
be 66.7% more likely to die during childbirth
In Iceland, approximately 3.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Ireland, 5.0 women do as of 2020.
be 2.1 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 Ireland, on the other hand, 3.5 children do as of 2022.
have 11.9% fewer children
In Iceland, there are approximately 12.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Ireland, there are 11.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 59.7% less on education
Iceland spends 7.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Ireland spends 3.1% of total GDP on education as of 2020.
spend 26.0% less on healthcare
Iceland spends 9.6% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Ireland, that number is 7.1% of GDP as of 2020.
Geography
see 70.9% less coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In Ireland, that number is 1,448 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.
Ireland: At a glance
How big is Ireland compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.