Suriname

ILO-modelled series indicates about 40.08 average weekly hours actually worked per employed person in 2024; unemployment around 8% in 2023. Evidence does not show a national human-time-return system. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Government housing programmes are creating serviced plots, but demand for land/housing remains substantial and access is price/eligibility gated; interior service gaps are material. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Suriname has fertile coastal agriculture, rice/fruit capacity and active small-farmer programmes. Food security and rural inequality remain policy concerns; 2026 food and health prices remain under pressure. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Physical freshwater/forest capacity is strong, yet safely managed drinking-water access is uneven and interior villages continue receiving new point/community systems; a national water policy was still being developed in July 2026. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Electricity access is high nationally, while recent solar-plus-storage projects show that some interior villages only recently reached reliable 24-hour supply. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Life expectancy was 73.8 years in 2024. Health insurance and digital-health infrastructure are substantial, but out-of-pocket spending, maternal mortality history, staffing/finance and geographic access remain constraints. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Literacy is high, but government reported serious staffing/material shortages for the 2025-26 school year; tertiary completion and labor outcomes show gender and skills mismatches. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Coastal road corridors and aviation connect major population centres, but interior geography produces high transport burden; road-safety deaths/injuries remain material. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Child allowance coverage is broad but transfers were assessed as modest; families with children had much higher poverty than households without children in the 2022 assessment. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Suriname has immense land and forest capacity relative to population, but formal access is constrained by allocation/title systems and unresolved Indigenous/Maroon collective land-rights issues. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Very high forest cover and exceptional biodiversity create major physical beauty/recreation capacity. Formal protected coverage is only part of the landscape, and public access/delight is not equivalent to forest existence. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Over 90% forest cover and major intact rainforest are exceptional strengths; flooding, mining/logging pressure, mercury risk, coastal climate exposure and soil degradation threaten resilience. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Suriname retains functioning national institutions, but police themselves report staffing/resource constraints and crime concerns; Indigenous/Maroon land-rights judgments remain a significant justice gap. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.

Plastic-recycling and waste-separation initiatives exist, including a 2025 government-industry MoU, but the waste system still relies heavily on disposal and lacks evidence of a nationwide circular material-return system. Reach: National averages mask a pronounced coastal/interior divide. Money gate: Prices, fees, transport cost, income/poverty or eligibility remain relevant where noted; no evidence of money-free universal access.