Iceland vs Vatican: Life expectancy
Iceland
82.69 years
in 2023
Vatican
82.98 years
in 2023
Iceland rank
25th
Vatican rank
23rd
Life expectancy over time
- Iceland
- Vatican
How they compare
Vatican currently reports 82.98 years against 82.69 years in Iceland, a difference of 0.29 years.
The two have swapped places 5 times across 74 shared years of data; in 1950 it was Iceland ahead.
Iceland ranks 25th and Vatican ranks 23rd of 236 countries.
Across the 8 decades both report, Iceland averaged higher in 6 and Vatican in 2.
Head to head by decade
| Decade | Iceland | Vatican | Difference | Ahead |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 72.56 years | 67.12 years | 5.44 years | Iceland |
| 1960s | 73.57 years | 70.11 years | 3.46 years | Iceland |
| 1970s | 75.1 years | 72.63 years | 2.46 years | Iceland |
| 1980s | 77.04 years | 75.35 years | 1.69 years | Iceland |
| 1990s | 78.54 years | 77.73 years | 0.808 years | Iceland |
| 2000s | 80.76 years | 80.5 years | 0.2578 years | Iceland |
| 2010s | 82.16 years | 82.53 years | 0.3708 years | Vatican |
| 2020s | 82.46 years | 83.06 years | 0.6047 years | Vatican |
Averages of every year both report within each decade.
Frequently asked questions
- Which has higher life expectancy, Iceland or Vatican?
- Vatican, at 82.98 years against 82.69 years in Iceland as of 2023.
- What is the difference in life expectancy between Iceland and Vatican?
- 0.29 years, with Vatican ahead.
- How many years of comparable data are there for Iceland and Vatican?
- 74 years are reported by both, from 1950 to 2023.
- How do Iceland and Vatican rank globally for life expectancy?
- Iceland ranks 25th and Vatican ranks 23rd 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.