What is life expectancy in Iceland?

Life expectancy 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 recorded in Iceland?

The highest recorded value was 82.85 years in 2019.

What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Iceland?

The lowest recorded value was 17.94 years in 1882.

How does Iceland rank for life expectancy?

Iceland ranks 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.

Is life expectancy 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. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.

Life expectancy in Iceland

Name: Life expectancy in Iceland
Creator: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data
License: CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data)

Iceland: Life expectancy 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 in Iceland, 1838–2023

Source: Riley (2005); Zijdeman et al. (2015); HMD (2025); UN WPP (2024) – with major processing by Our World in Data. Measured in years.

Analysis

In 2023, life expectancy in Iceland stood at 82.69 years.

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

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

That places Iceland 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2023, putting it in the top quarter.

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

Averages by decade

Decade	Average	Lowest	Highest	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

22 Macao 83.07 years compare
23 Vatican 82.98 years compare
24 United Arab Emirates 82.91 years compare
26 Canada 82.63 years compare
27 Martinique 82.57 years compare
28 Ireland 82.41 years compare

See the full ranking of 236 places →

More health data for Iceland

Age population, age 15, male, interpolated 2,668 (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)
Population ages 0-14, total 68,741 (2025)
Age population, age 14, male, interpolated 2,561 (2025)
Population ages 0-14, male 35,371 (2025)
Population ages 0-14, male 17.6% (2025)
Population, female 48.8% (2025)

All data for Iceland →

Frequently asked questions

What is life expectancy in Iceland?: Life expectancy 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 recorded in Iceland?: The highest recorded value was 82.85 years in 2019.
What is the lowest life expectancy recorded in Iceland?: The lowest recorded value was 17.94 years in 1882.
How does Iceland rank for life expectancy?: Iceland ranks 25th out of 236 countries with data for 2023.
Is life expectancy 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. 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
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.