Life expectancy in Greenland
Greenland: Life expectancy was 70.06 years in 2023. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy in Greenland, 1950–2023
Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for life expectancy in Greenland is 70.06 years, measured in 2023.
That represents a change of up 0.4% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy in Greenland peaked at 70.39 years in 2016 and was at its lowest, 39.5 years, in 1950.
That places Greenland 170th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 74 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1950s | 48.1 years | 39.5 years | 57.25 years | 10 |
| 1960s | 60.96 years | 58.55 years | 63.03 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 62.19 years | 61.65 years | 63.03 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 62.71 years | 62.16 years | 63.09 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 64.13 years | 63.24 years | 65.12 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 67.51 years | 65.63 years | 68.4 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 69.81 years | 68.45 years | 70.39 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 70.08 years | 70.05 years | 70.16 years | 4 |
Countries ranked near Greenland
- 167 Nepal 70.35 years compare
- 168 Guyana 70.18 years compare
- 169 Turkmenistan 70.07 years compare
- 171 Niue 69.98 years compare
- 172 Philippines 69.83 years compare
- 173 Sao Tome and Principe 69.72 years compare
More health data for Greenland
- Number of infants who die before age 1 1 deaths (2100)
- Estimated changes in temperature-related death rates compared to projected death rates 1,447 deaths per 1,000 people (2090)
- Age population, age 17, female, interpolated 340 (2025)
- Population ages 65 and above 11.5% (2025)
- Age population, age 19, male, interpolated 345 (2025)
- Age population, age 19, female, interpolated 327 (2025)
- Age population, age 18, male, interpolated 354 (2025)
- Age population, age 18, female, interpolated 335 (2025)
- Age dependency ratio, old 17.0% (2025)
- Age dependency ratio 47.6% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy in Greenland?
- Life expectancy in Greenland was 70.06 years in 2023, according to Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest life expectancy recorded in Greenland?
- The highest recorded value was 70.39 years in 2016.
- What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Greenland?
- The lowest recorded value was 39.5 years in 1950.
- How does Greenland rank for life expectancy?
- Greenland ranks 170th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
- Is life expectancy rising or falling in Greenland?
- Over the last ten years it is up 0.4%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Greenland data come from?
- The figures come from Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data, published as part of Life expectancy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 74 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
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.