In 2008, 1,986 persons died in Iceland, 981 men and 1,005 women. The crude death rate was 6.2 per 1,000 inhabitants. Since 1900 the number of registered male deaths has only 26 times been higher than the number of female deaths, over the course of one year.
Mean life expectancy for Icelandic women is now 83.0 years and 79.6 years for men. Icelandic men can now expect to live longer than men in any other country. Apart from Iceland, European men can expect to live longest in Switzerland (79.2) and Liechtenstein (78.9). Mean life expectancy for Icelandic women is the seventh highest in Europe. The highest average life expectancy for women in Europe is in Spain and France (84.4 years).
Over the last decade, infant mortality in Iceland has been very low compared with other countries. In 2008 infant mortality was 2.5 per 1,000 live births. Compared with other Nordic countries, infant mortality was lower in Sweden (2.2) and slightly higher in Finland (2.7) and Norway (3.2). Denmark has still the highest infant mortality rate among the Nordic countries or 4.4 per 1.000 live births.
