Canada vs Iceland: Life expectancy
Canada
82.63 years
in 2023
Iceland
82.69 years
in 2023
Canada rank
26th
Iceland rank
25th
Life expectancy over time
- Canada
- Iceland
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 82.69 years against 82.63 years in Canada, a difference of 0.06 years.
The two have swapped places 18 times across 111 shared years of data; in 1841 it was Iceland ahead.
Canada ranks 26th and Iceland ranks 25th of 236 countries.
Across the 19 decades both report, Canada averaged higher in 5 and Iceland in 14.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Canada | Iceland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1840s | 40.32 years | 40.35 years | 0.033 years | Iceland |
| 1850s | 41.06 years | 30.14 years | 10.92 years | Canada |
| 1860s | 41.59 years | 27.18 years | 14.41 years | Canada |
| 1870s | 42.56 years | 35.13 years | 7.43 years | Canada |
| 1880s | 44.73 years | 35.96 years | 8.77 years | Canada |
| 1890s | 45.17 years | 47.33 years | 2.16 years | Iceland |
| 1900s | 48.63 years | 52.93 years | 4.3 years | Iceland |
| 1910s | 52.51 years | 55.39 years | 2.88 years | Iceland |
| 1920s | 58.02 years | 58.01 years | 0.0156 years | Canada |
| 1930s | 61.87 years | 62.6 years | 0.728 years | Iceland |
| 1940s | 65.64 years | 67.19 years | 1.55 years | Iceland |
| 1950s | 69.55 years | 72.56 years | 3.01 years | Iceland |
| 1960s | 71.67 years | 73.57 years | 1.9 years | Iceland |
| 1970s | 73.54 years | 75.1 years | 1.56 years | Iceland |
| 1980s | 76.23 years | 77.04 years | 0.8165 years | Iceland |
| 1990s | 78.08 years | 78.54 years | 0.4587 years | Iceland |
| 2000s | 80.1 years | 80.76 years | 0.6575 years | Iceland |
| 2010s | 81.82 years | 82.16 years | 0.3375 years | Iceland |
| 2020s | 81.88 years | 82.46 years | 0.5811 years | Iceland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher life expectancy, Canada or Iceland?
- Iceland, at 82.69 years against 82.63 years in Canada as of 2023.
- What is the difference in life expectancy between Canada and Iceland?
- 0.06 years, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Canada and Iceland?
- 111 years are reported by both, from 1841 to 2023.
- How do Canada and Iceland rank globally for life expectancy?
- Canada ranks 26th and Iceland ranks 25th 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
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.