Iceland vs Ireland: Life expectancy
Iceland
82.69 years
in 2023
Ireland
82.41 years
in 2023
Iceland rank
25th
Ireland rank
28th
Life expectancy over time
- Iceland
- Ireland
How they compare
Iceland currently reports 82.69 years against 82.41 years in Ireland, a difference of 0.28 years.
The two have swapped places 2 times across 80 shared years of data; in 1901 it was Iceland ahead.
Iceland ranks 25th and Ireland ranks 28th of 236 countries.
Iceland has averaged higher in every one of the 13 decades both report.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | Ireland | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1900s | 52.93 years | 49.4 years | 3.53 years | Iceland |
| 1910s | 55.39 years | 53.8 years | 1.59 years | Iceland |
| 1920s | 60.72 years | 57.6 years | 3.12 years | Iceland |
| 1930s | 62.69 years | 58.9 years | 3.79 years | Iceland |
| 1940s | 65.8 years | 60.7 years | 5.1 years | Iceland |
| 1950s | 72.56 years | 67.81 years | 4.75 years | Iceland |
| 1960s | 73.57 years | 70.41 years | 3.16 years | Iceland |
| 1970s | 75.1 years | 71.52 years | 3.57 years | Iceland |
| 1980s | 77.04 years | 73.58 years | 3.46 years | Iceland |
| 1990s | 78.54 years | 75.59 years | 2.95 years | Iceland |
| 2000s | 80.76 years | 78.53 years | 2.23 years | Iceland |
| 2010s | 82.16 years | 81.45 years | 0.7114 years | Iceland |
| 2020s | 82.46 years | 82.18 years | 0.2801 years | Iceland |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher life expectancy, Iceland or Ireland?
- Iceland, at 82.69 years against 82.41 years in Ireland as of 2023.
- What is the difference in life expectancy between Iceland and Ireland?
- 0.28 years, with Iceland ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and Ireland?
- 80 years are reported by both, from 1901 to 2023.
- How do Iceland and Ireland rank globally for life expectancy?
- Iceland ranks 25th and Ireland ranks 28th 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.