Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Iceland instead of Sweden, you would:
Health
live 0.9 years longer
In Sweden, the average life expectancy is 83 years (81 years for men, 85 years for women) as of 2022. In Iceland, that number is 84 years (81 years for men, 86 years for women) as of 2022.
Economy
be 46.6% less likely to be unemployed
In Sweden, 6.8% of adults are unemployed as of 2019. In Iceland, that number is 3.6% as of 2019.
be 48.5% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Sweden, 17.1% live below the poverty line as of 2018. In Iceland, however, that number is 8.8% as of 2017.
pay a 18.9% lower top tax rate
Sweden has a top tax rate of 57.1% as of 2016. In Iceland, the top tax rate is 46.3% as of 2016.
Life
be 28.3% less likely to die during infancy
In Sweden, approximately 2.3 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 19.7% more children
In Sweden, there are approximately 10.8 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022. In Iceland, there are 13.0 babies per 1,000 people as of 2022.
Expenditures
spend 21.1% less on healthcare
Sweden spends 10.9% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2019. In Iceland, that number is 8.6% of GDP as of 2019.
Geography
see 54.4% more coastline
Sweden has a total of 3,218 km of coastline. In Iceland, that number is 4,970 km.
The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Directorate of Internal Revenue, Skatteverket.
Iceland: At a glance
How big is Iceland compared to Sweden? See an in-depth size comparison.