8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Latin America and the Caribbean / South America

Born in Suriname

About 1 in 12,120 people born in 2023 started life in Suriname. A boy can expect to live 71 years and a girl 77, up from 49 and 53 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 12,120
odds of being born here
10,900 births · Ranked 168th of 230
71 / 77
years of life, boys / girls
Was 49 / 53 in 1950
$6,925
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 100th of 203 · extrapolated
66%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 23 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 123 in every 1,000 births to 16.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth70.5 years for boys, 76.8 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 516.1 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year4,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.4World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles71%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV1.6%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year31 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 6.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.3.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.25UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth28.4 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 46 and the poorest fifth 6.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
6%Poorest fifth
11%Second
15%Middle
22%Fourth
46%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $6,925 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth46% / 6% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment7.7% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises51.6% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person1.5% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming7% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed22% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment76% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Paramaribo, with 223,757 people.

66%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
98%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Paramaribo223,757
Lelydorp18,223
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Dutch90%
Sranan Tongo68%
Chinese1%
Dutch is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Paramaribo District223,757
Wanica District18,223

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

People on the move

About 41% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Netherlands, France, French Guiana.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Netherlands177,165
France34,228
French Guiana28,615
Residents born abroad8.2% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 40.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostNetherlands (177,165), France (34,228), French Guiana (28,615)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $176.1 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 0%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2020)
0%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20241,406Our World in Data, from WHO

Now live it.

Born in Suriname, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Suriname

Elsewhere in Latin America and the Caribbean

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences