Quality of life comparison
If you lived in New Zealand instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
be 53.2% more likely to be obese
In Iceland, 22.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In New Zealand, that number is 34.0% of people as of 2024.
see 19.5% less spent on your healthcare
Iceland spends $6,927 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). New Zealand spends $5,576 as of 2024.
have 17.4% fewer doctors per person
Iceland has 43.7 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. New Zealand has 36.1 as of 2022.
Economy
be 40.3% more likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In New Zealand, that number is 5.1% as of 2025.
make 49.6% less money
Iceland has a GDP per capita of $98,323 as of 2025, while in New Zealand, the GDP per capita is $49,591 as of 2025.
Life
be 2.3 times 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 New Zealand, 7.0 women do as of 2023.
be 90.5% more likely to die during infancy
In Iceland, approximately 2.1 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In New Zealand, on the other hand, 4.0 children do as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 28.7% less on education
Iceland spends 7.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. New Zealand spends 5.2% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 12.0% more on healthcare
Iceland spends 9.0% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2024. In New Zealand, that number is 10.1% of GDP as of 2024.
Geography
see 3.0 times more coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In New Zealand, that number is 15,134 km.
Safety
be 13.2% more likely to be murdered
Iceland has a homicide rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In New Zealand, that number is 1.5 per 100,000 as of 2022.
be 2.8 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Iceland, road accidents kill 2.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In New Zealand, they kill 6.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 20.6 times more strain on fresh water
Iceland withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. New Zealand withdraws 8% as of 2022.
use 83.7% less electricity
Iceland uses 48,998 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. New Zealand uses 7,989 kWh as of 2024.
Environment
emit 29.5% less CO2
Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. New Zealand emits 6.0 tonnes as of 2024.
be 50.0% more likely to die from air pollution
In Iceland, air pollution causes 8.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In New Zealand, it causes 12.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Iceland vs. New Zealand
New Zealand: At a glance
How big is New Zealand compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.