Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Italy instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
live 1.1 years longer
In Iceland, the average life expectancy is 83 years (81 years for men, 84 years for women) as of 2024. In Italy, that number is 84 years (82 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2024.
be 37.0% less likely to be obese
In Iceland, 22.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Italy, that number is 14.0% of people as of 2024.
be 41.3% less likely to die by suicide
Iceland has a suicide rate of 11.9 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Italy, it is 7.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
see 27.9% less spent on your healthcare
Iceland spends $6,927 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Italy spends $4,993 as of 2024.
Economy
be 76.5% more likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Italy, that number is 6.4% as of 2025.
make 56.0% less money
Iceland has a GDP per capita of $98,323 as of 2025, while in Italy, the GDP per capita is $43,309 as of 2025.
Life
be 100.0% more likely to die during childbirth
In Iceland, approximately 3.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Italy, 6.0 women do as of 2023.
have 43.8% fewer children
In Iceland, there are approximately 11.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Italy, there are 6.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 44.3% less on education
Iceland spends 7.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Italy spends 4.1% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
Geography
see 52.9% more coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In Italy, that number is 7,600 km.
Safety
be 55.8% less likely to be murdered
Iceland has a homicide rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Italy, that number is 0.6 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 2.1 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Iceland, road accidents kill 2.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Italy, they kill 5.0 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 15.3% less home broadband
Iceland has 37.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Italy has 31.8 as of 2024.
live with 76.3 times more strain on fresh water
Iceland withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Italy withdraws 30% as of 2022.
use 89.5% less electricity
Iceland uses 48,998 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Italy uses 5,137 kWh as of 2024.
Environment
emit 40.4% less CO2
Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Italy emits 5.1 tonnes as of 2024.
be 87.5% more likely to die from air pollution
In Iceland, air pollution causes 8.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Italy, it causes 15.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Iceland vs. Italy
Italy: At a glance
How big is Italy compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.