Which has higher life expectancy, Norway or Sweden?

Norway, at 83.31 years against 83.26 years in Sweden as of 2023.

How many years of comparable data are there for Norway and Sweden?

178 years are reported by both, from 1846 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.

Norway vs Sweden: Life expectancy

Norway

83.31 years

in 2023

Sweden

83.26 years

in 2023

Norway rank

18th

Sweden rank

21st

Life expectancy over time

Norway
Sweden

How they compare

Norway currently reports 83.31 years against 83.26 years in Sweden, a difference of 0.05 years.

The two have swapped places 36 times across 178 shared years of data; in 1846 it was Norway ahead.

Norway ranks 18th and Sweden ranks 21st of 236 countries.

Across the 19 decades both report, Norway averaged higher in 10 and Sweden in 9.

Head to head by decade

Decade	Norway	Sweden	Difference	Ahead
1840s	46.47 years	42.95 years	3.52 years	Norway
1850s	49.97 years	42.02 years	7.95 years	Norway
1860s	48.06 years	44.95 years	3.11 years	Norway
1870s	49.71 years	46.77 years	2.94 years	Norway
1880s	50.39 years	49.75 years	0.637 years	Norway
1890s	51.6 years	52.18 years	0.585 years	Sweden
1900s	55.78 years	55.26 years	0.519 years	Norway
1910s	57 years	57.04 years	0.033 years	Sweden
1920s	61.96 years	61.71 years	0.246 years	Norway
1930s	65.67 years	64.56 years	1.11 years	Norway
1940s	67.96 years	68.8 years	0.831 years	Sweden
1950s	73.04 years	72.29 years	0.7582 years	Norway
1960s	73.67 years	73.73 years	0.064 years	Sweden
1970s	74.79 years	75.02 years	0.2253 years	Sweden
1980s	76.1 years	76.7 years	0.596 years	Sweden
1990s	77.69 years	78.63 years	0.9409 years	Sweden
2000s	79.87 years	80.52 years	0.6479 years	Sweden
2010s	82.05 years	82.17 years	0.1199 years	Sweden
2020s	83.07 years	82.94 years	0.1361 years	Norway

Averages of every year both report within each decade.

Frequently asked questions

Which has higher life expectancy, Norway or Sweden?: Norway, at 83.31 years against 83.26 years in Sweden as of 2023.
What is the difference in life expectancy between Norway and Sweden?: 0.05 years, with Norway ahead.
How many years of comparable data are there for Norway and Sweden?: 178 years are reported by both, from 1846 to 2023.
How do Norway and Sweden rank globally for life expectancy?: Norway ranks 18th and Sweden ranks 21st 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: 06 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.