Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Sweden instead of Latvia, you would:
Health
live 7.6 years longer
In Latvia, the average life expectancy is 76 years (72 years for men, 82 years for women) as of 2024. In Sweden, that number is 84 years (83 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2024.
be 21.5% less likely to be obese
In Latvia, 22.3% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Sweden, that number is 17.5% of people as of 2024.
see 2.6 times more spent on your healthcare
Latvia spends $3,034 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Sweden spends $7,770 as of 2024.
have 29.7% more doctors per person
Latvia has 34.0 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Sweden has 44.1 as of 2021.
have 13.3% more access to essential health services
Latvia scores 75 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Sweden scores 85 as of 2021.
Economy
be 28.4% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Latvia, 22.5% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Sweden, however, that number is 16.1% as of 2022.
make 2.4 times more money
Latvia has a GDP per capita of $26,312 as of 2025, while in Sweden, the GDP per capita is $63,133 as of 2025.
be 32.3% more likely to be unemployed
In Latvia, 6.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Sweden, that number is 8.7% as of 2025.
Life
be 78.9% less likely to die during childbirth
In Latvia, approximately 19.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Sweden, 4.0 women do as of 2023.
have 34.8% more children
In Latvia, there are approximately 6.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Sweden, there are 9.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 69.4% more on education
Latvia spends 4.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Sweden spends 7.3% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
spend 54.1% more on healthcare
Latvia spends 7.3% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Sweden, that number is 11.2% of GDP as of 2024.
Geography
see 6.5 times more coastline
Latvia has a total of 498 km of coastline. In Sweden, that number is 3,218 km.
Safety
be 54.0% less likely to be murdered
Latvia has a homicide rate of 2.5 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Sweden, that number is 1.1 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 78.6% less likely to die in a road accident
In Latvia, road accidents kill 9.8 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Sweden, they kill 2.1 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 57.7% more home broadband
Latvia has 25.8 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Sweden has 40.6 as of 2024.
use 3.2 times more electricity
Latvia uses 3,768 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Sweden uses 12,226 kWh as of 2024.
live with 3.5 times more strain on fresh water
Latvia withdraws 1% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Sweden withdraws 4% as of 2022.
Environment
be 80.0% less likely to die from air pollution
In Latvia, air pollution causes 40.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Sweden, it causes 8.0 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: Latvia vs. Sweden
Sweden: At a glance
How big is Sweden compared to Latvia? See an in-depth size comparison.