Norway vs Iceland

Norway
Europe & Central Asia
High income
Capital: Oslo
Population
5.6M
GDP
$500.9B
Iceland
Europe & Central Asia
High income
Capital: Reykjavik
Population
386.5K
GDP
$33.2B

POP 14.4x GDP 15.1x LE 0.4 yrs same-band HIC

Widest indicator spreads · Norway vs Iceland

GDP Growth Rate190.1%Forest Area98.4%GDP (Current USD)93.4%Population93.1%Net Migration92%Foreign Direct Investment76.7%Population Density74.8%Maternal Mortality Ratio66.7%
WIDE pair: the board is the GDP Growth Rate gap first (Norway HIC vs Iceland HIC).

Demographics: Population (Norway, 93% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
Population 5.6M 386.5K 2024
Population Density 15.2 3.8 2023
Population Ages 65+ 18.8% 15.6% 2024

2 closer demographics rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Economy: GDP Growth Rate (Norway, 190% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
GDP Growth Rate 1.4% -1.3% 2024
GDP (Current USD) $500.9B $33.2B 2024
Foreign Direct Investment $12.1B $2.8B 2024
Inflation (Consumer Prices) 3.1% 5.9% 2024

4 closer economy rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Health: Maternal Mortality Ratio (Norway, 67% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
Maternal Mortality Ratio 1 3 2023

5 closer health rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Education: Education Expenditure (% of GDP) (Iceland, 26% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
Education Expenditure (% of GDP) 5.4% 7.3% 2022
School Enrollment (Tertiary) 95.5% 76.5% 2024

2 closer education rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Environment: Forest Area (Norway, 98% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
Forest Area 33.5% 0.5% 2023
Freshwater Withdrawal 0.7% 0.2% 2022
Electric Power Consumption 23,673 48,998 2024
Renewable Energy Consumption 61.4% 82.4% 2021

1 closer environment rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Infrastructure: Mobile Subscriptions (Iceland, 10% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
Mobile Subscriptions 109.3 120.9 2024
Access to Clean Water 99.1% 100.0% 2024

3 closer infrastructure rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

Social: Net Migration (Norway, 92% spread)

Indicator Norway Iceland Year
Net Migration 44.4K 3.5K 2024
Intentional Homicides 0.7 1.3 2023

4 closer social rows sit on the Norway and Iceland profiles; this pair keeps the steep spreads only.

How to read this Norway vs Iceland comparison

Norway (HIC, Europe & Central Asia) vs Iceland (HIC, Europe & Central Asia) is a WIDE WDI pair: population is 14.4x larger (5.6M vs 386.5K) and total GDP is 15.1x larger ($500.9B vs $33.2B). The gap board leads on GDP Growth Rate (~190% relative spread) across 39 indicators in 7 topics. Same income tier; rate and stock gaps are the sharper policy read. Figures may come from different reporting years; dollar values move with exchange rates; national averages conceal inequality. See our methodology.

Other curated pairs · WIDE band

Indexable comparisons only (Module 42). Full picker with every country lives on /compare, not duplicated under every pair.

Norway vs Iceland figures: World Bank Open Data and health rows: WHO Global Health Observatory. CC BY 4.0 · same-band HIC · WIDE scale band.