Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iceland instead of New Zealand, you would:
Health
be 34.7% less likely to be obese
In New Zealand, 34.0% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Iceland, that number is 22.2% of people as of 2024.
see 24.2% more spent on your healthcare
New Zealand spends $5,576 per person on healthcare as of 2024 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Iceland spends $6,927 as of 2024.
have 21.1% more doctors per person
New Zealand has 36.1 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2022. Iceland has 43.7 as of 2023.
Economy
be 28.7% less likely to be unemployed
In New Zealand, 5.1% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Iceland, that number is 3.6% as of 2025.
make 98.3% more money
New Zealand has a GDP per capita of $49,591 as of 2025, while in Iceland, the GDP per capita is $98,323 as of 2025.
Life
be 57.1% less likely to die during childbirth
In New Zealand, approximately 7.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Iceland, 3.0 women do as of 2023.
be 47.5% less likely to die during infancy
In New Zealand, approximately 4.0 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Iceland, on the other hand, 2.1 children do as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 10.7% less on healthcare
New Zealand spends 10.1% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2024. In Iceland, that number is 9.0% of GDP as of 2024.
spend 40.3% more on education
New Zealand spends 5.2% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Iceland spends 7.3% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
Geography
see 67.2% less coastline
New Zealand has a total of 15,134 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.
Safety
be 11.6% less likely to be murdered
New Zealand has a homicide rate of 1.5 per 100,000 people as of 2022. In Iceland, that number is 1.3 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 63.6% less likely to die in a road accident
In New Zealand, road accidents kill 6.6 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Iceland, they kill 2.4 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 95.2% less strain on fresh water
New Zealand withdraws 8% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Iceland withdraws 0% as of 2022.
use 6.1 times more electricity
New Zealand uses 7,989 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Iceland uses 48,998 kWh as of 2024.
Environment
be 33.3% less likely to die from air pollution
In New Zealand, air pollution causes 12.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Iceland, it causes 8.0 as of 2019.
emit 41.8% more CO2
New Zealand emits 6.0 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes as of 2024.
Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: New Zealand vs. Iceland
Iceland: At a glance
How big is Iceland compared to New Zealand? See an in-depth size comparison.