Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 63.3% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Gabon, 3.0% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Suriname, that number is 1.1% of people as of 2020.

live 2.7 years longer

In Gabon, the average life expectancy is 70 years (68 years for men, 71 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 76.0% more likely to be obese

In Gabon, 15.0% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Suriname, that number is 26.4% of people as of 2016.

Economy

be 62.2% less likely to be unemployed

In Gabon, 20.4% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Suriname, that number is 7.7% as of 2023.

be 2.1 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Gabon, 33.4% live below the poverty line as of 2017. In Suriname, however, that number is 70.0% as of 2002.

Life

be 57.7% less likely to die during childbirth

In Gabon, approximately 227.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Suriname, 96.0 women do as of 2020.

be 11.1% more likely to be literate

In Gabon, the literacy rate is 85.5% as of 2021. In Suriname, it is 95.0% as of 2021.

have 42.0% fewer children

In Gabon, there are approximately 25.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Suriname, there are 14.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

Expenditures

spend 56.2% more on education

Gabon spends 3.2% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Suriname spends 5.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

spend 100.0% more on healthcare

Gabon spends 3.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Suriname, that number is 6.8% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 56.4% less coastline

Gabon has a total of 885 km of coastline. In Suriname, that number is 386 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

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.
Read more

How big is Suriname compared to Gabon? See an in-depth size comparison.

Share this

ASK THE ELSEWHERE COMMUNITY

Join the Elsewhere community and ask a question about Suriname.or Gabon It's a free, question-and-answer based forum to discuss what life is like in countries and cities around the world.