Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

live 3.4 years longer

In Suriname, the average life expectancy is 72 years (69 years for men, 76 years for women) as of 2022. In Belize, that number is 76 years (74 years for men, 78 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 41.4% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Suriname, 70.0% live below the poverty line as of 2002. In Belize, however, that number is 41.0% as of 2013.

make 32.6% less money

Suriname has a GDP per capita of $19,000 as of 2023, while in Belize, the GDP per capita is $12,800 as of 2023.

Life

be 63.1% less likely to die during infancy

In Suriname, approximately 30.2 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Belize, on the other hand, 11.2 children do as of 2022.

have 18.8% more children

In Suriname, there are approximately 14.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Belize, there are 17.7 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 35.4% more likely to die during childbirth

In Suriname, approximately 96.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Belize, 130.0 women do as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 74.0% more on education

Suriname spends 5.0% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Belize spends 8.7% of total GDP on education as of 2021.

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

Belize: At a glance

Belize is a sovereign country in Central America/Caribbean, with a total land area of approximately 22,806 sq km. Belize was the site of several Mayan city states until their decline at the end of the first millennium A.D. The British and Spanish disputed the region in the 17th and 18th centuries; it formally became the colony of British Honduras in 1854. Territorial disputes between the UK and Guatemala delayed the independence of Belize until 1981. Guatemala refused to recognize the new nation until 1992 and the two countries are involved in an ongoing border dispute. Tourism has become the mainstay of the economy. Current concerns include the country's heavy foreign debt burden, high unemployment, growing involvement in the Mexican and South American drug trade, high crime rates, and one of the highest HIV/AIDS prevalence rates in Central America.
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How big is Belize compared to Suriname? See an in-depth size comparison.

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