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Topic 05 of 18 · Country Index 2026

Ireland: Health & Wellbeing

How long, and how well fed, do people live?

Ireland is placed joint 27th of 200 countries on health & wellbeing in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics. Readings behind it: Life Expectancy at Birth 82.41 (2023); Under-Five Mortality Rate 3.863 (2024).

Health & Wellbeing

joint27th

of 200 countries placed

Placed from 3 of 4 key statistics

Country Index 2026, all topics9th of 178 →

01The evidence

The 4 key statistics that decide it

Only these place Ireland on health & wellbeing — one vote each. Every value is the publisher’s own, read at the edition the Country Index 2026 used — or, for a survey-based key, each country’s latest reading; the grey ticks are every other country it was compared with, lowest on the left.

Why these keys

  1. Key 1 of 4

    Life Expectancy at Birth

    UN DESA Population Division

    Why it is a key: How long people actually live — the one measure of adult health on this site. Child mortality, which it correlates with, is a measure of a health system's reach in the first five years; this is the whole span.

    2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 3.0 IGO

    82.41

    Years a newborn would live at current death rates

    Higher is better

    Ireland: 82.41. Across the 222 countries in this edition, values run from 54.46 (Nigeria) to 86.37 (Monaco); the world median is 74.63.

    World median
    74.63
    Best in Northern Europe
    83.31 Norway
    Land neighbours
    United Kingdom 81.3

    Each grey tick is one of 222 countries in the 2023 edition.

  2. Key 2 of 4

    Under-Five Mortality Rate

    UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME)

    Why it is a key: Deaths before a fifth birthday, the most widely used summary of whether a health system reaches people.

    2024 edition · data for 2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO

    3.863

    Deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births)

    Lower is better

    Ireland: 3.863. Across the 200 countries in this edition, values run from 1.26 (San Marino) to 115.65 (Nigeria); the world median is 14.54.

    World median
    14.54
    Best in Northern Europe
    2.016 Estonia
    Land neighbours
    United Kingdom 4.68

    Each grey tick is one of 200 countries in the 2024 edition.

  3. Key 3 of 4

    Stunting Prevalence in Children Under Five

    UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates)

    Why it is a key: Children under five who are too short for their age — the mark chronic undernutrition leaves on a body, which says what early deprivation did rather than how many died of it.

    Latest reading per country, 2014–2024 · CC BY 3.0 IGO

    No reading

    Children under 5 who are stunted (%)

    Lower is better

    UNICEF, WHO and World Bank Group (Joint Malnutrition Estimates) publishes no reading from 2014–2024 for Ireland, so the standing rests on the other keys.

    Across the 162 countries at their latest reading, values run from 0.518 (Latvia) to 52.8 (Burundi); the world median is 13.8.

    World median
    13.8
    Best in Northern Europe
    0.518 Latvia
    Land neighbours
    United Kingdom 1.956

    Each grey tick is one of 162 countries at its latest reading, 2014–2024.

  4. Key 4 of 4

    Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity

    Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)

    Why it is a key: The share of people who went without food, established by asking them rather than by modelling the supply.

    2023 edition · data for 2023 · CC BY 4.0

    2.1

    Population in severe food insecurity (%)

    Lower is better

    Ireland: 2.1. Across the 133 countries in this edition, values run from 0 (Armenia) to 63.1 (South Sudan); the world median is 4.7.

    World median
    4.7
    Best in Northern Europe
    1.1 Estonia
    Land neighbours
    United Kingdom 3.3

    Each grey tick is one of 133 countries in the 2023 edition.

03In context

Ireland beside its neighbours

A position reads best beside the countries around it. Every position below is a place among all 200 countries on health & wellbeing, never a place within the region.

Northern Europe
1st200thNot placed · 24 countries with too few key statisticsNo data

The whole world on health & wellbeing

Ireland and the countries it borders

The standing is each country’s place among all 200 placed on the topic; the other columns are the publishers’ own values, read at the edition the standing used.

CountryStandingLife Expectancy at BirthYears a newborn would live at current death ratesUnder-Five Mortality RateDeaths before age five (per 1,000 live births)Stunting Prevalence in Children Under FiveChildren under 5 who are stunted (%)Prevalence of Severe Food InsecurityPopulation in severe food insecurity (%)
Ireland=27th82.413.8632.2362.1
United Kingdom=38th81.34.681.9563.3

“—” means the publisher gives no reading for that country in that edition. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed.

Placed either side on health & wellbeing

The countries immediately above and below Ireland in the topic’s list.

04Context, no vote

Where Ireland is ahead of the world, and behind

12 more statistics filed under health & wellbeing, published in full and deliberately given no vote in the standing. Select a row for the publisher, the rank and the links.

Every country

Ahead of the world median10

Statistics on which Ireland does better than the middle country measured.

  • Dietary Energy SupplyFAO · 2024 · world median 2,9823,923No real change since 2014

    Ireland: 3,923 · world median 2,982 · Dietary energy supply (kcal per person per day). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 1,757 to 3,962; higher is better.

    Position 3rd of 155 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Human Capital IndexWorld Bank Group · 2020 · world median 0.5640.793▲ Improved since 2010

    Ireland: 0.793 · world median 0.564 · HCI score (0–1). World Bank Group, 2020 edition, data for 2020.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.292 to 0.879; higher is better.

    Position 9th of 172 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2020 dataset

  • Human Development IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.7620.949▲ Improved since 2013

    Ireland: 0.949 · world median 0.762 · HDI score (0–1). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.388 to 0.972; higher is better.

    Ranked 11th of 193 by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Global Violent DeathsSmall Arms Survey · 2021 · world median 4.020.5▲ Improved since 2011

    Ireland: 0.5 · world median 4.02 · Violent deaths per 100,000 people. Small Arms Survey, 2021 edition, data for 2021.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 112.28; lower is better.

    Position 193rd of 206 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2021 dataset

  • Maternal Mortality RatioMMEIG · 2023 · world median 46.653.79No real change since 2013

    Ireland: 3.79 · world median 46.65 · Maternal deaths per 100,000 live births. UN Maternal Mortality Estimation Inter-Agency Group (MMEIG), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.11 to 992.83; lower is better.

    Position 178th of 195 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Gender Inequality IndexUNDP Human Development Report Office · 2023 · world median 0.3510.054▲ Improved since 2013

    Ireland: 0.054 · world median 0.351 · GII (0 = full equality, 1 = maximum inequality). UNDP Human Development Report Office, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.003 to 0.838; lower is better.

    Ranked 19th of 172 by UNDP Human Development Report Office.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Life Expectancy at Age 65UN DESA Population Division · 2023 · world median 16.3920.49No real change since 2013

    Ireland: 20.49 · world median 16.39 · Further years a 65-year-old would live at current death rates. UN DESA Population Division, 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 12.13 to 23.21; higher is better.

    Position 35th of 222 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = best. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Infant Mortality RateUN IGME · 2024 · world median 12.263.432▼ Worsened since 2014

    Ireland: 3.432 · world median 12.26 · Deaths before age one (per 1,000 live births). UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 1.214 to 71.87; lower is better.

    Position 167th of 200 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Prevalence of UndernourishmentFAO · 2023 · world median 5.22.5▼ Worsened since 2013

    Ireland: 2.5 · world median 5.2 · Population undernourished (%). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 2.5 to 54.2; lower is better.

    Position 104th of 104 — derived here by ordering the published values, 1st = worst. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

  • Fatal Occupational InjuriesILO · 2023 · world median 2.0051.47▼ Worsened since 2013

    Ireland: 1.47 · world median 2.005 · Fatal occupational injuries per 100,000 workers. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2023 edition, data for 2023.

    Published values in that edition run from 0.12 to 8.409; lower is better.

    Chart and every countryThe 2023 dataset

No better end2

These describe the shape of a country — more is not better or worse, only different — so they are never ahead or behind.

  • Pesticide Use per HectareFAO · 2024 · world median 1.734.94Moved since 2014

    Ireland: 4.94 · world median 1.73 · Pesticide use (kg per hectare of cropland). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), 2024 edition, data for 2024.

    Published values in that edition run from 0 to 37.72.

    Position 53rd of 178 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2024 dataset

  • Average Weekly Hours WorkedILO · 2025 · world median 38.8930.45Moved since 2015

    Ireland: 30.45 · world median 38.89 · Average weekly hours actually worked per employed person. International Labour Organization (ILO), 2025 edition, data for 2025.

    Published values in that edition run from 23.64 to 54.7.

    Position 170th of 182 — derived here by ordering the published values, counted from the highest value. The publisher ranks no country on this.

    Chart and every countryThe 2025 dataset

No current reading for Ireland

Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff (last 2017), Children with Functional Difficulties, Exclusive Breastfeeding Under Six Months, Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence, Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, Global Report on Food Crises, INFORM Severity Index and Violent Discipline of Children. Listed rather than hidden, so the page can be checked against it.

05Country Index 2026

Health & Wellbeing among Ireland’s 15 topics

Health & Wellbeing is Ireland’s 11th best-placed topic of 15. Strongest first; each marker sits at the position divided by that topic’s field, so fields of different sizes compare fairly.

On the profile
  1. Food & Agriculture2nd of 175
  2. Digital & Technology4th of 198
  3. Development & Human Capital6th of 196
  4. Democracy & Civil Liberties8th of 198
  5. Governance & Institutionsjoint 10th of 194
  6. Peace & Security13th of 177
  7. Economy & Innovation19th of 176
  8. Poverty & Inequality18th of 159
  9. Gender & Equality21st of 183
  10. Risk & Resiliencejoint 23rd of 192
  11. Health & Wellbeingjoint 27th of 200
  12. Energy46th of 193
  13. Mobility & Trade39th of 147
  14. Work & Labourjoint 83rd of 182
  15. Environment & Sustainability132nd of 181

No standing on Education & Knowledge: too few of those topics’ key statistics are published for this country.

06The top of the list

Who leads on health & wellbeing

The three countries placed highest of 200, and the leaders Ireland can most readily be measured against.

All 200 countries
  1. 1

    San Marino

    Southern Europe

    1st of 200 · 2 of 4 keys

    Photo: Matl derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  2. 2

    Monaco

    Western Europe

    2nd of 200 · 2 of 4 keys

    Photo: Martin Weber derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

  3. 3

    Andorra

    Southern Europe

    3rd of 200 · 2 of 4 keys

    Photo: Tiia Monto derivative work: Jjtkk · CC BY-SA 3.0, greyscale

Placed highest nearby

  1. Highest placed on all 4 keys

    South Korea5th4/4 keys

  2. Highest in Europe

    San Marino1st2/4 keys

  3. Highest in Northern Europe

    Estonia11th4/4 keys

  4. This page

    Ireland=27th3/4 keys

Positions out of 200 placed on the topic. A country needs readings on enough keys to be placed, and the top of the list is often held on fewer of them.

07Analysis

Charts and analysis about Ireland and health & wellbeing

All charts

08Questions

Ireland on health & wellbeing: questions answered

Every answer is built from the numbers on this page, so none can say something the page does not.

How does Ireland rank on health & wellbeing?

Ireland is placed joint 27th of 200 countries on Health & Wellbeing in the Country Index 2026, from 3 of its 4 key statistics (Life Expectancy at Birth, Under-Five Mortality Rate and Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity). The position is this site’s ordering of published statistics, not a rank any publisher printed.

What is the latest Life Expectancy at Birth figure for Ireland?

82.41 in 2023 (years a newborn would live at current death rates), according to UN DESA Population Division. The world median in the same edition was 74.63.

What is the latest Under-Five Mortality Rate figure for Ireland?

3.863 in 2024 (deaths before age five (per 1,000 live births)), according to UN Inter-agency Group for Child Mortality Estimation (UN IGME). The world median in the same edition was 14.54.

How does Ireland compare with United Kingdom on health & wellbeing?

United Kingdom is placed joint 38th of 200, and Ireland joint 27th. Life Expectancy at Birth: United Kingdom 81.3, Ireland 82.41; Under-Five Mortality Rate: United Kingdom 4.68, Ireland 3.863; Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity: United Kingdom 3.3, Ireland 2.1.

How have Ireland’s health & wellbeing figures changed?

Life Expectancy at Birth rose from 76.53 in 2000 to 82.41 in 2023; Under-Five Mortality Rate fell from 7.166 in 2000 to 3.863 in 2024; Prevalence of Severe Food Insecurity fell from 3.4 in 2015 to 2.1 in 2023.

Which health & wellbeing statistics are missing for Ireland?

No current reading is published for Ireland on Births Attended by Skilled Health Staff, Children with Functional Difficulties, Exclusive Breastfeeding Under Six Months, Female Genital Mutilation Prevalence, Global Multidimensional Poverty Index, Global Report on Food Crises, INFORM Severity Index and Violent Discipline of Children. They are listed rather than hidden, so the evidence on the page can be checked against it.

09Keep reading

Explore further

Health & Wellbeing

Ireland, topic by topic

10Method

Method, sources and how to cite

What this topic does not measure

Health spending, hospital beds and doctors per person are not measured, because more of any of them does not guarantee better outcomes. Mental health and self-reported happiness are not part of this topic. Food supply per person is measured under Food & Agriculture. Maternal mortality and many other indicators are published here as context; maternal mortality is a key in Development & Human Capital instead.

About health & wellbeing, in full

How the Health & Wellbeing standing is decided, step by step

A standing is a place in a list, not a mark out of anything. This one is part of the Country Index 2026, and it is worked out like this.

  1. A few key indicators decide it; the rest are context. 4 indicators on this topic are keys and 20 are charted alongside them without a vote. That split is the point: if every statistic voted, importing five more of one kind would quietly change what the topic is about.
  2. Each key is read at one edition. ⚠ The keys behind this standing do not all describe the same year — they run from 2023 to 2024, because publishers release on their own schedules. Read the standing as “how this country places now”, not as a snapshot of one year.
  3. Every country’s published value is turned into a place within that one key’s own field, and then expressed as a share of that field — how far down this key’s list the country sits, rather than how many countries are above it. Keys where a higher published number is worse (terrorism, hunger, disaster risk) are turned round first, so the good end is always the same end.
  4. Dividing by the field first is the whole reason this works. A place carries the size of its list inside it: 22nd of 44 and 108th of 215 are the same showing, and averaging the numbers 22 and 108 says loudly that they are not. Fields on this site run from about 44 countries to about 215, so averaging raw places would reward a country for happening to be measured in small ones. Dividing each place by its own field removes the size and leaves only the showing.
  5. The shares are averaged, plainly. One key, one vote — no key is weighted above another, because any weighting would be this site’s opinion presented as a measurement. Countries are then put in order by that average, and the average itself is never published. It is our arithmetic with nothing anchoring it, so printing it would invite it to be read as a measurement somebody made. The position it produces, the band, and the keys it was built from are all published instead — every one of them checkable against the tables on this page.
  6. A country needs 2 of this topic’s 4 keys — half, rounded up, and never fewer than 2. A standing built from one reading, printed beside one built from four, is two different things sharing a column heading. 200 countries clear the bar here.
  7. A key has to earn its vote every edition. It must measure at least 120 countries (below that it starts measuring who was surveyed rather than the world), it must not have more than 10% of its field tied at either end, and it must not repeat another key in the same topic — Spearman correlation above 0.92 counts as repeating. A topic needs at least 2 surviving keys to place anyone at all; this one has 4.
  8. A standing is relative, and the grouping is ours. It says where a country places against the others measured alongside it, so it moves when they move. The publishers listed on this page did not agree to be read together, and each measures its subject its own way: the underlying numbers are theirs, the ordering on top is this site’s — the same method as the rest of the Country Index, applied to one subject instead of all of them.

The key statistics and their licences

The other 12 statistics on this page come from 8 publishers, each named beside its numbers, with every edition and licence on the datasets pages.

The standing itself is part of the Country Index 2026, published under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Photographs

Ireland’s banner and the countries placed highest, from their profiles: Wikimedia Commons, shown in greyscale, each used under the licence named.

Cite this page

Nations Inquiry (2026). Ireland: Health & Wellbeing — standing and statistics, Country Index 2026. https://nationsinquiry.com/countries/ireland/health

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