Life expectancy at birth, total in Iceland
Iceland: Life expectancy at birth, total was 82.81 years in 2024. ▲ Rising
Life expectancy at birth, total in Iceland, 1960–2024
Source: World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN). Measured in years.
Analysis
The most recent figure for life expectancy at birth, total in Iceland is 82.81 years, measured in 2024.
Compared with earlier readings it is up 0.4% on the previous year and down 0.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, life expectancy at birth, total in Iceland peaked at 83.17 years in 2021 and was at its lowest, 73.04 years, in 1963.
Iceland ranks 26th of 215 countries on this measure, in the top quarter.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 65 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 73.66 years | 73.04 years | 74.04 years | 10 |
| 1970s | 75.33 years | 73.57 years | 76.97 years | 10 |
| 1980s | 77.3 years | 76.52 years | 78.14 years | 10 |
| 1990s | 78.76 years | 77.98 years | 79.6 years | 10 |
| 2000s | 81.03 years | 79.65 years | 81.75 years | 10 |
| 2010s | 82.55 years | 81.9 years | 83.16 years | 10 |
| 2020s | 82.72 years | 82.12 years | 83.17 years | 5 |
Countries ranked near Iceland
More health data for Iceland
- Population ages 0-14, total 68,741 (2025)
- Population, female 48.8% (2025)
- Age population, age 17, male, interpolated 2,599 (2025)
- Age population, age 17, female, interpolated 2,468 (2025)
- Age population, age 16, male, interpolated 2,660 (2025)
- Age population, age 16, female, interpolated 2,511 (2025)
- Age population, age 15, female, interpolated 2,511 (2025)
- Population ages 0-14, male 17.6% (2025)
- Age population, age 14, male, interpolated 2,561 (2025)
- Age dependency ratio, young 26.3% (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is life expectancy at birth, total in Iceland?
- Life expectancy at birth, total in Iceland was 82.81 years in 2024, according to World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest life expectancy at birth, total recorded in Iceland?
- The highest recorded value was 83.17 years in 2021.
- What is the lowest life expectancy at birth, total recorded in Iceland?
- The lowest recorded value was 73.04 years in 1963.
- How does Iceland rank for life expectancy at birth, total?
- Iceland ranks 26th out of 215 countries with data for 2024.
- Is life expectancy at birth, total rising or falling in Iceland?
- Over the last ten years it is down 0.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Iceland data come from?
- The figures come from World Population Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Life expectancy at birth, total (years). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 65 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Life expectancy at birth indicates the number of years a newborn infant would live if prevailing patterns of mortality at the time of its birth were to stay the same throughout its life.