Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Suriname instead of Barbados, you would:

Health

live 6.1 years less

In Barbados, the average life expectancy is 79 years (76 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2022. In Suriname, that number is 72 years (69 years for men, 76 years for women) as of 2022.

be 14.3% more likely to be obese

In Barbados, 23.1% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Suriname, that number is 26.4% of people as of 2016.

Economy

pay a 13.4% higher top tax rate

Barbados has a top tax rate of 33.5% as of 2016. In Suriname, the top tax rate is 38.0% as of 2016.

Life

have 39.3% more children

In Barbados, there are approximately 10.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Suriname, there are 14.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 2.5 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Barbados, approximately 39.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Suriname, 96.0 women do as of 2020.

be 3.2 times more likely to die during infancy

In Barbados, approximately 9.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2020. In Suriname, on the other hand, 30.2 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 23.3% less likely to have internet access

In Barbados, approximately 86.0% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Suriname, about 66.0% do as of 2021.

Expenditures

spend 23.1% less on education

Barbados spends 6.5% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Suriname spends 5.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 4.0 times more coastline

Barbados has a total of 97 km of coastline. In Suriname, that number is 386 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Finance, Barbados.

Suriname: At a glance

Suriname is a sovereign country in South America, with a total land area of approximately 156,000 sq km. First explored by the Spaniards in the 16th century and then settled by the English in the mid-17th century, Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. With the abolition of African slavery in 1863, workers were brought in from India and Java. Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to exert control through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In 1990, the military overthrew the civilian leadership, but a democratically elected government - a four-party coalition - returned to power in 1991. The coalition expanded to eight parties in 2005 and ruled until August 2010, when voters returned former military leader Desire BOUTERSE and his opposition coalition to power.
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How big is Suriname compared to Barbados? See an in-depth size comparison.

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