Iceland vs Norway: Human Development Index

Iceland

0.972

in 2023

Norway

0.97

in 2023

Iceland rank

1st

Norway rank

2nd

Human Development Index over time

Iceland
Norway

How they compare

Iceland currently reports 0.972 against 0.97 in Norway, a difference of 0.002.

The two have swapped places 3 times across 34 shared years of data; in 1990 it was Norway ahead.

Globally, Iceland ranks 1st and Norway ranks 2nd of 192 countries.

Individual pages

Human Development Index in Iceland
Human Development Index in Norway
Full country ranking

About this data

Indicator: Human Development Index
Source: UNDP, Human Development Report (2025) – with minor processing by Our World in Data
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)
Coverage: 192 places, 5,938 data points, 1990–2023
Last refreshed: 06 August 2026

The Human Development Index (HDI) is a summary measure of key dimensions of human development: a long and healthy life, a good education, and a decent standard of living. Higher values indicate higher human development.