Which has higher life expectancy, Denmark or Finland?

Denmark, at 81.93 years against 81.91 years in Finland as of 2023.

What is the difference in life expectancy between Denmark and Finland?

0.02 years, with Denmark ahead.

How many years of comparable data are there for Denmark and Finland?

152 years are reported by both, from 1775 to 2023.

Where does this data come from?

Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Denmark vs Finland: Life expectancy

Denmark

81.93 years

in 2023

Finland

81.91 years

in 2023

Denmark rank

39th

Finland rank

40th

Life expectancy over time

Denmark
Finland

How they compare

Denmark currently reports 81.93 years against 81.91 years in Finland, a difference of 0.02 years.

The two have swapped places 7 times across 152 shared years of data; in 1775 it was Finland ahead.

Denmark ranks 39th and Finland ranks 40th of 236 countries.

Across the 21 decades both report, Denmark averaged higher in 16 and Finland in 5.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Denmark	Finland	Difference	Ahead
1770s	33 years	39.35 years	6.35 years	Finland
1830s	38.42 years	34.65 years	3.77 years	Denmark
1840s	43.4 years	40.45 years	2.95 years	Denmark
1850s	46.15 years	35.1 years	11.05 years	Denmark
1860s	39.8 years	32.1 years	7.7 years	Denmark
1870s	46.1 years	41.94 years	4.16 years	Denmark
1880s	47.86 years	42.11 years	5.74 years	Denmark
1890s	49.73 years	45.02 years	4.71 years	Denmark
1900s	54.9 years	45.94 years	8.96 years	Denmark
1910s	57.6 years	46.48 years	11.12 years	Denmark
1920s	61.08 years	51.87 years	9.21 years	Denmark
1930s	63.55 years	55.88 years	7.67 years	Denmark
1940s	67.52 years	55.31 years	12.21 years	Denmark
1950s	71.47 years	67.07 years	4.4 years	Denmark
1960s	72.61 years	69.33 years	3.28 years	Denmark
1970s	73.9 years	71.68 years	2.22 years	Denmark
1980s	74.56 years	74.5 years	0.0566 years	Denmark
1990s	75.6 years	76.37 years	0.7754 years	Finland
2000s	77.85 years	78.87 years	1.02 years	Finland
2010s	80.52 years	81.05 years	0.5291 years	Finland
2020s	81.55 years	81.7 years	0.1459 years	Finland

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher life expectancy, Denmark or Finland?: Denmark, at 81.93 years against 81.91 years in Finland as of 2023.
What is the difference in life expectancy between Denmark and Finland?: 0.02 years, with Denmark ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Denmark and Finland?: 152 years are reported by both, from 1775 to 2023.
How do Denmark and Finland rank globally for life expectancy?: Denmark ranks 39th and Finland ranks 40th of 236 countries.
Where does this data come from?: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as Life expectancy. Statizoid refreshes it automatically from the source and publishes the full history for both places.

Individual pages

About this data

Indicator: Life expectancy
Unit: years
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 236 places, 19,452 data points, 1543–2023
Last refreshed: 07 August 2026

Period life expectancy is the number of years the average person born in a certain year would live if they experienced the same chances of dying at each age as people did that year.