Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Norway instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
see 37.5% more spent on your healthcare
Iceland spends $6,927 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Norway spends $9,523 as of 2023.
have 13.8% more doctors per person
Iceland has 43.7 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Norway has 49.8 as of 2023.
be 10.7% more likely to die by suicide
Iceland has a suicide rate of 11.9 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Norway, it is 13.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Economy
be 28.2% more likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Norway, that number is 4.6% as of 2025.
Life
be 66.7% less 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 Norway, 1.0 women do as of 2023.
have 13.4% fewer children
In Iceland, there are approximately 11.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Norway, there are 9.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 25.7% less on education
Iceland spends 7.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Norway spends 5.4% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
Geography
see 5.1 times more coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In Norway, that number is 25,148 km.
Safety
be 44.2% less likely to be murdered
Iceland has a homicide rate of 1.3 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Norway, that number is 0.7 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 37.5% less likely to die in a road accident
In Iceland, road accidents kill 2.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Norway, they kill 1.5 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 20.4% more home broadband
Iceland has 37.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Norway has 45.2 as of 2024.
live with 5.2 times more strain on fresh water
Iceland withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Norway withdraws 2% as of 2022.
use 51.7% less electricity
Iceland uses 48,998 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Norway uses 23,673 kWh as of 2024.
Environment
emit 15.7% less CO2
Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Norway emits 7.2 tonnes as of 2024.
Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), The World Factbook, United Nations SDG Indicators (2021). How we calculate this
Compare further: Iceland vs. Norway
Norway: At a glance
How big is Norway compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.