Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Greenland instead of Sweden, you would:

Health

live 13.8 years less

In Sweden, the average life expectancy is 84 years (83 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2024. In Greenland, that number is 70 years (68 years for men, 72 years for women) as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 60.2% more likely to be obese

In Sweden, 17.5% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Greenland, that number is 28.1% of people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Life

have 29.0% more children

In Sweden, there are approximately 9.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Greenland, there are 12.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

View global rankings →

be 4.4 times more likely to die during infancy

In Sweden, approximately 2.0 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Greenland, on the other hand, 8.8 children do as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Expenditures

spend 39.3% more on education

Sweden spends 7.3% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Greenland spends 10.2% of total GDP on education as of 2019.

View global rankings →

Geography

see 13.7 times more coastline

Sweden has a total of 3,218 km of coastline. In Greenland, that number is 44,087 km.

View global rankings →

Infrastructure

find 21.3% less home broadband

Sweden has 40.6 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Greenland has 32.0 as of 2022.

View global rankings →

Environment

emit 2.9 times more CO2

Sweden emits 3.6 tonnes of CO2 per person each year as of 2024. Greenland emits 10.4 tonnes as of 2024.

View global rankings →

Sources: World Bank (2022–2024), The World Factbook (2019–2022), World Health Organization (2024). How we calculate this

Compare further: Sweden vs. Greenland

Cost of Living Comparison · 7 categories - 2026 data
Greenland is 47.1% more expensive than Sweden overall
→
Size Comparison · See true size
Sweden is about 4.8 times smaller than Greenland.
→
Moving from Sweden to Greenland · UN DESA 2020
85 people born in Sweden live in Greenland.
→

Greenland: At a glance

Greenland is a sovereign country in North America, with a total land area of approximately 2,166,086 sq km. Greenland, the world's largest island, is about 81% ice-capped. Vikings reached the island in the 10th century from Iceland; Danish colonization began in the 18th century, and Greenland was made an integral part of Denmark in 1953. It joined the European Community (now the EU) with Denmark in 1973 but withdrew in 1985 over a dispute centered on stringent fishing quotas. Greenland was granted self-government in 1979 by the Danish parliament; the law went into effect the following year. Greenland voted in favor of increased self-rule in November 2008 and acquired greater responsibility for internal affairs when the Act on Greenland Self-Government was signed into law in June 2009. Denmark, however, continues to exercise control over several policy areas on behalf of Greenland including foreign affairs, security, and financial policy in consultation with Greenland's Self-Rule Government.
Read more

How big is Greenland compared to Sweden? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

Ask the Elsewhere Community

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Greenland or Sweden. It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.