Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Iceland instead of Macau, you would:

Economy

make 29.5% more money

Macau has a GDP per capita of $75,902 as of 2025, while in Iceland, the GDP per capita is $98,323 as of 2025.

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be 54.0% more likely to be unemployed

In Macau, 2.4% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Iceland, that number is 3.6% as of 2025.

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Life

be 54.2% less likely to die during infancy

In Macau, approximately 4.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Iceland, on the other hand, 2.1 children do as of 2024.

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have 2.1 times more children

In Macau, there are approximately 5.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Iceland, there are 11.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 2.1 times more on education

Macau spends 3.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Iceland spends 7.3% of total GDP on education as of 2022.

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Geography

see 121.2 times more coastline

Macau has a total of 41 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.

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Safety

be 2.3 times more likely to be murdered

Macau has a homicide rate of 0.6 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Iceland, that number is 1.3 per 100,000 as of 2023.

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Infrastructure

find 25.7% more home broadband

Macau has 29.9 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Iceland has 37.5 as of 2024.

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Environment

emit 3.4 times more CO2

Macau emits 2.5 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), The World Factbook (2022). How we calculate this

Compare further: Macau vs. Iceland

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Iceland is 71.2% more expensive than Macau overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Macau is about 3,652 times smaller than Iceland.
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Moving from Macau to Iceland · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Iceland: At a glance

Iceland is a sovereign country in Europe, with a total land area of approximately 100,250 sq km. Settled by Norwegian and Celtic (Scottish and Irish) immigrants during the late 9th and 10th centuries A.D., Iceland boasts the world's oldest functioning legislative assembly, the Althing, established in 930. Independent for over 300 years, Iceland was subsequently ruled by Norway and Denmark. Fallout from the Askja volcano of 1875 devastated the Icelandic economy and caused widespread famine. Over the next quarter century, 20% of the island's population emigrated, mostly to Canada and the US. Denmark granted limited home rule in 1874 and complete independence in 1944. The second half of the 20th century saw substantial economic growth driven primarily by the fishing industry. The economy diversified greatly after the country joined the European Economic Area in 1994, but Iceland was especially hard hit by the global financial crisis in the years following 2008. Literacy, longevity, and social cohesion are first rate by world standards.
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How big is Iceland compared to Macau? See an in-depth size comparison.

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