Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iceland instead of South Korea, you would:
Health
be 4.7 times more likely to be obese
In South Korea, 4.7% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Iceland, that number is 21.9% of people as of 2016.
Economy
make 23.6% more money
South Korea has a GDP per capita of $42,300 as of 2020, while in Iceland, the GDP per capita is $52,300 as of 2020.
be 38.9% less likely to live below the poverty line
In South Korea, 14.4% live below the poverty line as of 2016. In Iceland, however, that number is 8.8% as of 2017.
pay a 21.8% higher top tax rate
South Korea has a top tax rate of 38.0% as of 2016. In Iceland, the top tax rate is 46.3% as of 2016.
Life
be 63.6% less likely to die during childbirth
In South Korea, approximately 11.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2017. In Iceland, 4.0 women do as of 2017.
be 42.5% less likely to die during infancy
In South Korea, approximately 2.9 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Iceland, on the other hand, 1.6 children do as of 2022.
have 87.3% more children
In South Korea, there are approximately 6.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Iceland, there are 13.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 68.9% more on education
South Korea spends 4.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2018. Iceland spends 7.6% of total GDP on education as of 2018.
Geography
see 2.1 times more coastline
South Korea has a total of 2,413 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, National Tax Service, South Korea, Directorate of Internal Revenue.
Iceland: At a glance
How big is Iceland compared to South Korea? See an in-depth size comparison.