Quality of life comparison

compared to

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

Health

be 58.7% less likely to be obese

In Suriname, 26.4% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Ghana, that number is 10.9% of people as of 2016.

be 54.5% more likely to be living with HIV/AIDS

In Suriname, 1.1% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2020. In Ghana, that number is 1.7% of people as of 2020.

live 3.0 years less

In Suriname, the average life expectancy is 72 years (69 years for men, 76 years for women) as of 2022. In Ghana, that number is 69 years (68 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 60.0% less likely to be unemployed

In Suriname, 7.7% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Ghana, that number is 3.1% as of 2023.

be 66.6% less likely to live below the poverty line

In Suriname, 70.0% live below the poverty line as of 2002. In Ghana, however, that number is 23.4% as of 2016.

pay a 34.2% lower top tax rate

Suriname has a top tax rate of 38.0% as of 2016. In Ghana, the top tax rate is 25.0% as of 2016.

make 64.7% less money

Suriname has a GDP per capita of $19,000 as of 2023, while in Ghana, the GDP per capita is $6,700 as of 2023.

Life

have 85.2% more children

In Suriname, there are approximately 14.9 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Ghana, there are 27.6 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 2.7 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Suriname, approximately 96.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Ghana, 263.0 women do as of 2020.

be 16.8% less likely to be literate

In Suriname, the literacy rate is 95.0% as of 2021. In Ghana, it is 79.0% as of 2018.

Basic Needs

be 14.0% less likely to have access to electricity

In Suriname, approximately 99% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 97% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Ghana, that number is 85% of people on average (95% in urban areas, and 74% in rural areas) as of 2022.

Expenditures

spend 20.0% less on education

Suriname spends 5.0% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Ghana spends 4.0% of total GDP on education as of 2018.

spend 41.2% less on healthcare

Suriname spends 6.8% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Ghana, that number is 4.0% of GDP as of 2020.

Geography

see 39.6% more coastline

Suriname has a total of 386 km of coastline. In Ghana, that number is 539 km.

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

Ghana: At a glance

Ghana is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 227,533 sq km. Formed from the merger of the British colony of the Gold Coast and the Togoland trust territory, Ghana in 1957 became the first sub-Saharan country in colonial Africa to gain its independence. Ghana endured a long series of coups before Lt. Jerry RAWLINGS took power in 1981 and banned political parties. After approving a new constitution and restoring multiparty politics in 1992, RAWLINGS won presidential elections in 1992 and 1996 but was constitutionally prevented from running for a third term in 2000. John KUFUOR succeeded him and was reelected in 2004. John Atta MILLS won the 2008 presidential election and took over as head of state, but he died in July 2012 and was constitutionally succeeded by his vice president John Dramani MAHAMA, who subsequently won the December 2012 presidential election.
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How big is Ghana compared to Suriname? See an in-depth size comparison.

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