Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iceland instead of Norway, you would:
Health
see 27.3% less spent on your healthcare
Norway spends $9,523 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Iceland spends $6,927 as of 2024.
have 12.1% fewer doctors per person
Norway has 49.8 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Iceland has 43.7 as of 2023.
Economy
be 22.0% less likely to be unemployed
In Norway, 4.6% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Iceland, that number is 3.6% as of 2025.
Life
have 15.5% more children
In Norway, there are approximately 9.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Iceland, there are 11.2 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
be 3.0 times more likely to die during childbirth
In Norway, approximately 1.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Iceland, 3.0 women do as of 2023.
Expenditures
spend 34.6% more on education
Norway spends 5.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Iceland spends 7.3% of total GDP on education as of 2022.
Geography
see 80.2% less coastline
Norway has a total of 25,148 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.
Safety
be 79.2% more likely to be murdered
Norway has a homicide rate of 0.7 per 100,000 people as of 2023. In Iceland, that number is 1.3 per 100,000 as of 2023.
be 60.0% more likely to die in a road accident
In Norway, road accidents kill 1.5 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Iceland, they kill 2.4 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
live with 80.9% less strain on fresh water
Norway withdraws 2% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Iceland withdraws 0% as of 2022.
use 2.1 times more electricity
Norway uses 23,673 kWh of electricity per person each year as of 2024. Iceland uses 48,998 kWh as of 2024.
find 16.9% less home broadband
Norway has 45.2 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Iceland has 37.5 as of 2024.
Environment
emit 18.7% more CO2
Norway emits 7.2 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Iceland emits 8.5 tonnes as of 2024.
Sources: World Bank (2022–2025), The World Factbook, United Nations SDG Indicators (2021). How we calculate this
Compare further: Norway vs. Iceland
Iceland: At a glance
How big is Iceland compared to Norway? See an in-depth size comparison.