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Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland

Iceland: Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index was 82.69 years in 2023. ▲ Rising

Latest (2023)
82.69 years
Change on year
up 1.4%
World rank
25th
of 236 countries
All-time high
82.85 years
in 2019
All-time low
17.94 years
in 1882
Years of data
186
1838–2023

Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index in Iceland, 1838–2023

20406080183819302023

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 vs. electoral democracy index in Iceland is 82.69 years, measured in 2023.

The figure is up 1.4% on the previous year and up 1.2% over ten years.

Over the whole period, life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in Iceland peaked at 82.85 years in 2019 and was at its lowest, 17.94 years, in 1882.

Iceland ranks 25th of 236 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.

The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 186 years of available data.

Averages by decade

DecadeAverage LowestHighest Years
1830s 30.3 years 28.07 years 32.54 years 2
1840s 35.38 years 18.68 years 42.97 years 10
1850s 38.58 years 29.82 years 48.69 years 10
1860s 30.65 years 19.84 years 37.67 years 10
1870s 37.77 years 25.31 years 44.69 years 10
1880s 39.88 years 17.94 years 52.51 years 10
1890s 48.25 years 36.76 years 53.17 years 10
1900s 50.27 years 45.71 years 53.51 years 10
1910s 55.13 years 51.07 years 59 years 10
1920s 57.67 years 54.08 years 61.71 years 10
1930s 62.6 years 59.49 years 65.98 years 10
1940s 67.19 years 63.12 years 71.39 years 10
1950s 72.56 years 71 years 73.39 years 10
1960s 73.57 years 72.94 years 74.05 years 10
1970s 75.1 years 73.49 years 76.63 years 10
1980s 77.04 years 76.19 years 77.93 years 10
1990s 78.54 years 77.54 years 79.4 years 10
2000s 80.76 years 79.55 years 81.42 years 10
2010s 82.16 years 81.59 years 82.85 years 10
2020s 82.46 years 81.59 years 82.84 years 4

Countries ranked near Iceland

  1. 22 Macao 83.07 years compare
  2. 23 Vatican 82.98 years compare
  3. 24 United Arab Emirates 82.91 years compare
  4. 26 Canada 82.63 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Iceland

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in Iceland?
Life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index in Iceland was 82.69 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 vs. electoral democracy index recorded in Iceland?
The highest recorded value was 82.85 years in 2019.
What is the lowest life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index recorded in Iceland?
The lowest recorded value was 17.94 years in 1882.
How does Iceland rank for life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index?
Iceland ranks 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy vs. electoral democracy index rising or falling in Iceland?
Over the last ten years it is up 1.2%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
Where does this Iceland 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 vs. Electoral Democracy Index. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Download this data

CSV · JSON — 186 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).

About this data

Indicator
Life expectancy vs. Electoral Democracy Index
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

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.