Healthcare in Greenland

Healthcare in Greenland is slightly below average in a worldwide comparison.

Probably the most important indicator that can be used to summarize the efficiency of all measures is general life expectancy. In other words, the theoretical age that a newborn child could potentially reach today. At the moment, this age in Greenland is 69.7 years for men and 72.7 years for women. For comparison: worldwide life expectancy is about 0.2 years lower (men: 68.9 / women: 73.9 years).

Back to overview: Greenland

Spread of COVID-19 in Greenland

Since the beginning of the pandemic until June 6th, 2023, a total of 11,971 infected people and 21 deaths have been reported in Greenland.

The total of 11,971 infected people currently represents 21.09 percent of the total population.

Current vaccination status

According to official WHO data, a total of 79,738 vaccine doses have been administered as of March 14th, 2022. More recent data are not yet available to WHO. There are 41,227 people who have received at least one vaccination (72.6 percent).

38,511 of these are considered fully vaccinated in Greenland (= 67.8 percent).
This means that Greenland is only in the middle of the field in terms of vaccination coverage. The vaccination rate is higher in 99 countries.

Weight and size

	Male	Female
Body height	173 cm	161 cm
BMI	26.1	26.7
Weight	78.5 kg	69.5 kg

Diseases

	Greenland	Ø worldwide
Diabetes *	2.10%	8.81%
Tuberculosis	0.70‰	1.34‰

* The number of people suffering from diabetes refers only to inhabitants aged between 20 and 79 years.

Medical supplies

The medical care provided by doctors and hospitals in Greenland is above average and also exceeds the average achieved in the EU countries. The country provides 14.4 hospital beds per 1,000 inhabitants. The global mean here is 2.9 beds. Within the EU, 4.6 beds are available for every 1,000 residents.

With about 64 physicians in Greenland, there are about 1.14 doctors per 1000 inhabitants. Here again the comparison: worldwide this standard is 1.50 physicians per 1,000 inhabitants and in the EU is 3.57.

Drinking water supply

About 97 percent of the population has access to an immediately available, running drinking water supply. At least via springs and wells within a maximum distance of 30 minutes or supplied water, 100 peprcent of the population is supplied with largely clean drinking water. The population is thus better served than average. In a global comparison, only about 74 percent of the population has direct access to tested and always available drinking water. Within the European Union, this share is 98 percent. Only in a few countries does the proportion fall below 10 percent.

Sources

The above data correspond to the information from the World Health Organization, Global Health Workforce Statistics, UNICEF, State of the World's Children, Childinfo, Global Health Observatory Data Repository and OECD. The case numbers for the spread of the COVID-19 come from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

Average age by countryRising average age worldwide: since 1950 alone, more than 4 years. A list by country.

Average life expectancy by countryInternational ranking of life expectancy in 119 countries including summary by continents. Explanation of significant factors.

Quality of life 2023 in country comparisonCompare the quality of life around the globe: In which countries is life pleasant, safe and healthy?