Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Portugal instead of Iceland, you would:
Health
be 18.6% less likely to be obese
In Iceland, 22.2% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Portugal, that number is 18.1% of people as of 2024.
have 33.8% more doctors per person
Iceland has 43.7 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Portugal has 58.5 as of 2022.
see 28.9% less spent on your healthcare
Iceland spends $6,927 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Portugal spends $4,928 as of 2024.
Economy
be 70.2% more likely to be unemployed
In Iceland, 3.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Portugal, that number is 6.2% as of 2025.
make 67.4% less money
Iceland has a GDP per capita of $98,323 as of 2025, while in Portugal, the GDP per capita is $32,082 as of 2025.
Life
be 5.0 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 Portugal, 15.0 women do as of 2023.
be 28.6% 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 Portugal, on the other hand, 2.7 children do as of 2024.
have 29.5% fewer children
In Iceland, there are approximately 11.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Portugal, there are 7.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 37.8% less on education
Iceland spends 7.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Portugal spends 4.5% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
spend 14.0% more on healthcare
Iceland spends 9.0% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2024. In Portugal, that number is 10.2% of GDP as of 2024.
Geography
see 63.9% less coastline
Iceland has a total of 4,970 km of coastline. In Portugal, that number is 1,793 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 Portugal, that number is 0.7 per 100,000 as of 2022.
be 3.0 times more likely to die in a road accident
In Iceland, road accidents kill 2.4 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Portugal, they kill 7.2 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 20.6% more home broadband
Iceland has 37.5 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Portugal has 45.2 as of 2024.
live with 31.6 times more strain on fresh water
Iceland withdraws 0% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Portugal withdraws 12% as of 2022.
use 89.2% less electricity
Iceland uses 48,998 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Portugal uses 5,294 kWh as of 2024.
Environment
emit 61.0% less CO2
Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Portugal emits 3.3 tonnes as of 2024.
be 25.0% more likely to die from air pollution
In Iceland, air pollution causes 8.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Portugal, it causes 10.0 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. Portugal
Portugal: At a glance
How big is Portugal compared to Iceland? See an in-depth size comparison.