Which has higher life expectancy, Denmark or Greece?

Denmark, at 81.93 years against 81.86 years in Greece as of 2023.

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

0.07 years, with Denmark ahead.

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

89 years are reported by both, from 1877 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 Greece: Life expectancy

Denmark

81.93 years

in 2023

Greece

81.86 years

in 2023

Denmark rank

39th

Greece rank

41st

Life expectancy over time

Denmark
Greece

How they compare

Denmark currently reports 81.93 years against 81.86 years in Greece, a difference of 0.07 years.

The two have swapped places 4 times across 89 shared years of data; in 1877 it was Denmark ahead.

Denmark ranks 39th and Greece ranks 41st of 236 countries.

Across the 15 decades both report, Denmark averaged higher in 11 and Greece in 4.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Denmark	Greece	Difference	Ahead
1870s	47.36 years	36.6 years	10.76 years	Denmark
1880s	47.69 years	37.4 years	10.28 years	Denmark
1890s	49.6 years	38.95 years	10.65 years	Denmark
1900s	55.39 years	40.8 years	14.59 years	Denmark
1920s	60.67 years	46.84 years	13.83 years	Denmark
1930s	63.31 years	51.65 years	11.66 years	Denmark
1940s	66.27 years	54.34 years	11.93 years	Denmark
1950s	71.47 years	68.02 years	3.45 years	Denmark
1960s	72.61 years	71.06 years	1.55 years	Denmark
1970s	73.9 years	73.49 years	0.4027 years	Denmark
1980s	74.56 years	75.88 years	1.32 years	Greece
1990s	75.6 years	77.86 years	2.26 years	Greece
2000s	77.85 years	79.44 years	1.58 years	Greece
2010s	80.52 years	80.97 years	0.446 years	Greece
2020s	81.55 years	80.97 years	0.5843 years	Denmark

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher life expectancy, Denmark or Greece?: Denmark, at 81.93 years against 81.86 years in Greece as of 2023.
What is the difference in life expectancy between Denmark and Greece?: 0.07 years, with Denmark ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Denmark and Greece?: 89 years are reported by both, from 1877 to 2023.
How do Denmark and Greece rank globally for life expectancy?: Denmark ranks 39th and Greece ranks 41st 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.