Economy of Suriname

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The economy of Suriname was largely dependent upon the exports of aluminium oxide and small amounts of aluminium produced from bauxite mined in the country. However, after the departure of Alcoa, the economy depended on the exports of crude oil and gold. Suriname was ranked the 124th safest investment destination in the world in the March 2011 Euromoney Country Risk rankings.[1]

Agriculture

A member of CARICOM, Suriname also exports in small numbers rice, shrimp, timber, bananas, fruits, and vegetables. Fernandes Group is a soft drinks company bottled by Coca-Cola world-wide.[2]

Other agricultural products of Suriname palm kernels, coconuts, peanuts; beef, chickens; forest products; shrimp.

Rice

In 2018, Suriname produced 273 thousand tons of rice, 125 thousand tons of sugar cane, in addition to smaller productions of other agricultural products, such as banana (48 thousand tons), orange (19 thousand tons) and coconut (14 thousand tons).[3]

Hardwood

Some big companies are getting the hardwood out of the jungle. However, proposals for exploitation of the country's tropical forests and undeveloped regions of the interior traditionally inhabited by indigenous and Maroon communities have raised the concerns of environmentalists and human rights activists both in Suriname and abroad. These opposing parties are not yet strong in Suriname.

Bananas

State-owned banana producer Surland closed its doors on April 5, 2002, after its inability to meet payroll expenses for the second month in a row; it is still unclear if Surland will survive this crisis.[4]

The banana producer Surland was remodeled as Stichting Behoud Bananen Sector Suriname (SBBS). The rumour was that because of political differences Surland was manipulated into shutting down. The SBBS had made bananas profitable for the first time in 20 years.[5] There is also wide production of plantains in Suriname.

Mineral industry

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Gold

Currently gold exports make up 60-80% of all exports earnings. In 2021 the gold industry accounted for 8.5% of the GDP. The share of large-scale mining in total gold production is 58% compared to 42% of small-scale mining.[6] With an export value of USD 1.83 billion in 2023, the gold sector makes an important contribution to the economy.[7]

In early 2025, Suriname’s gold industry faced significant scrutiny after revelations of major oversight failures by the Foreign Currency Committee, which monitors gold exports and foreign currency flows. Finance and Planning Minister Stanley Raghoebarsing disclosed that a private plane carrying gold with an official export permit had been intercepted, yet the shipment would yield no state revenue. This incident exposed broader issues, including the issuance of numerous opaque and unjustified export permits, some granted to parties not actively exporting gold. Despite high gold prices and increased mining activity, official gold export figures were abnormally low, and the government estimated a loss of at least US$300 million in recent months. These irregularities contributed to the depreciation of the Surinamese dollar and rising foreign currency prices. The minister pledged to implement stricter oversight and reforms.[8]

Bauxite

The backbone of Suriname's economy was the export of aluminium oxide (alumina) and small amounts of aluminium produced from bauxite mined in the country. In 1999, the aluminium smelter at Paranam was closed.[9] In November 2015 Suralco ceased the mining of bauxite completely.[10]

Oil

The exploration and exploitation of oil adds substantially to the economy of Suriname at about 10% of the GDP.[11] The national oil company, STAATSOLIE, is the motor behind Suriname's oil industry. Their core business is oil extraction and refining.

In 2012 STAATSOLIE produced Script error: No such module "convert". a day.[12] Staatsolie currently refines 16,500 barrels a day at Tout Lui Faut refinery in the District of Wanica. Furthermore, they own a 96 MW powerplant and a 189 MW hydro powerplant. They also have their own retail gas stations under their Gow2 brand. They also claim to be a well-established bunker supplier in the Caribbean region.[13]

In 2022 they reported revenue of USD 840 million. In that year their contribution to the state treasury was USD 320 million. In 2023 they made revenue of USD 722 million. The drop in revenue was because of the lower price for oil per barrel that year. Their contribution to the Surinamese state treasury was USD 335 million.

Other players in the off-shore oil industry in Suriname are Total Energies, Apache, Shell and Petronas. These companies have signed product sharing contracts with STAATSOLIE for the exploration and extraction of off-shore oil. The first of these contracts was signed in 2015.[14] In 2023 they signed three more of such contracts.[15]

In 2020 the first off-shore oil was found. Currently STAATSOLIE, local partners and Surinamese companies, as well as the Surinamese government are actively anticipating on the development of the off-shore oil industry.[16][17][18] The first production will start with the development of oil block 58 in 2028 [19] in which STAATSOLIE has a share of 20%.[20] It's projected that Suriname will make around USD 7 billion in the first five production years.[21] STAATSOLIE and other local players are anticipating on the development of the off-shore oil industry.[22]

Currency

Moreover, in January 2002, the government renegotiated civil servant wages (a significant part of the work force and a significant portion of government expenditure), agreeing to raises as high as 100%. Pending implementation of these wage increases and concerned that the government may be unable to meet these increased expenses, the local currency weakened from Sf 2200 in January 2002 to nearly Sf 2500 in April 2002. On March 26, 2003, the Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS) adjusted the exchange rate of the U.S. dollar. This action resulted in further devaluation of the Surinamese guilder. The official exchange rate of the US$ was SF 2,650 for selling and SF 2,600 for purchasing. With the official exchange rate, the CBvS came closer to the exchange rate on the parallel market which sold the U.S. dollar for SF 3,250.

With the beginning of 2004 the Surinamese dollar (SRD) was introduced with an exchange rate of 1000 Surinamese gulden to 1 Surinamese dollar. Before 2004: Surinamese gulden (SRG) = 100 cent, SRD 1 = SRG 1000; coins had extremely low official value and a much higher collector's value; their official value has now been multiplied by 1000: the value in SRD cent is equal to the former value in SRG cent. The same applies for "currency notes" (SRG 1 and 2.50).

Surinamese guilders per US dollar - 2,346.75 (2002), 2,178.5 (2001), 1,322.47 (2000), 859.44 (1999), 401 (1998)
Note: during 1998, the exchange rate splintered into four distinct rates; in January 1999 the government floated the guilder, but subsequently fixed it when the black-market rate plunged; the government then allowed trading within a band of SRG 500 around the official rate

Between 2004 and 2022, the value of the new Surinamese dollar (SRD) was set by the central bank. The Central Bank of Suriname spent much of Suriname's foreign currency reserves supporting the official exchange rates as inflation and other factors caused the real value of the Surinamese dollar to decline against other reserve currencies. As with the previous Surinamese guilder, the difference between the official exchange rate and the decreasing real value of the currency allowed black market currency trading to thrive. In June 2021, the central bank devalued the SRD by 33% and announced the currency would float freely.[23] By June 2022, official exchange rates began to reflect the real floating exchange rate.[24]

External debt and restructuring

As of February 2021, Suriname's external debt stands at US$4 billion. Of this amount, the nation sought to restructure a total of US$675 million in loans. Suriname retained French investment bank Lazard to act as its financial advisor during the restructuring.[25]

Stock Exchange

The Suriname Stock Exchange (SSX) is the stock exchange of Suriname. The exchange was established in 1994 by the Association for Securities Trading in Suriname (VvES), founded on January 1, 1994.[26] Stock trading does not occur daily but twice a month on the first and third Thursday. There are twelve companies listed on the exchange.[27]

Major events

In April 2025, Suriname experienced a significant rise in the price of the euro, which reached SRD 41.33. Finance and Planning Minister Stanley Raghoebarsing attributed the increase to international developments, particularly the weakening of the U.S. dollar following new American trade policies. On 3 April 2025, U.S. President Donald Trump announced a 10% tariff on all imports and higher rates on goods from around 60 economies. These measures, analysts noted, could trigger global economic disruptions. Raghoebarsing emphasized that the euro surge was not due to domestic policy and urged the public not to panic.[28]

Mechanisms

File:RM487574 Den Haag - Alexander Gogelweg 2.jpg
The Suriname-Netherlands Chamber at the embassy of Suriname in The Hague

There are several Chambers of Commerce that are supporting the economy. The general Chamber of Commerce and Factories (KKF) is located in Paramaribo. It was founded on 1 May 1910 and has nearly 30,000 members in 2019 that provide more than 150,000 jobs.[29] Next to that, there are several international Chambers. One of them is the Suriname-Netherlands Chamber of Commerce that is established at the embassy of Suriname in The Hague. At the Chamber it is possible to found a Surinamese company in the Netherlands.[30][31] Furthermore there is a Suriname-Guyana Chamber of Commerce,[32] a Suriname-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry[33] and a Ghana-Suriname Chamber of Commerce.[34]

In 2021 the government of Suriname founded the Suriname Investment and Trade Agency (SITA) to support international investments in Suriname and exports of Surinamese products abroad.[35]

Statistics

The following table shows the main economic indicators in 1980–2021 (with IMF staff estimates for 2020–2028). Inflation below 5% is in green.[36]

Uncollapse first
Year GDP

(in Bil. US$PPP)

GDP per capita

(in US$ PPP)

GDP

(in Bil. US$nominal)

GDP per capita

(in US$ nominal)

GDP growth

(real)

Inflation rate

(in Percent)

Unemployment

(in Percent)

Government debt

(in % of GDP)

1980 Increase2.19 n/a Increase1.28 n/a Decrease-6.5% n/a n/a n/a
1981 Increase2.44 n/a Increase1.43 n/a Increase1.9% n/a n/a n/a
1982 Increase2.43 n/a Increase1.47 n/a Decrease-6.3% n/a n/a n/a
1983 Decrease2.39 n/a Decrease1.42 n/a Increase-5.1% n/a n/a n/a
1984 Increase2.41 n/a Decrease1.39 n/a Decrease-3.0% n/a n/a n/a
1985 Increase2.46 n/a Increase1.40 n/a Increase-0.9% n/a n/a n/a
1986 Decrease2.45 n/a Increase1.43 n/a Decrease-2.4% n/a n/a n/a
1987 Decrease2.29 n/a Increase1.57 n/a Decrease-8.8% n/a n/a n/a
1988 Increase2.63 n/a Increase1.86 n/a Increase10.8% n/a n/a n/a
1989 Increase2.79 n/a Increase2.18 n/a Decrease2.3% n/a n/a n/a
1990 Increase2.85 Increase6,984.2 Decrease0.58 Decrease1,413.6 Decrease-1.5% n/a n/a Template:IncreaseNegative72.9%
1991 Decrease2.54 Decrease6,132.3 Increase0.64 Increase1,536.0 Decrease-13.8% Template:IncreaseNegative14.0% n/a Template:IncreaseNegative75.7%
1992 Increase2.70 Increase6,440.0 Decrease0.59 Decrease1,406.6 Increase3.9% Template:IncreaseNegative33.0% n/a Template:DecreasePositive64.4%
1993 Increase2.70 Decrease6,352.8 Decrease0.47 Decrease1,093.1 Decrease-2.2% Template:IncreaseNegative139.1% n/a Template:DecreasePositive51.1%
1994 Decrease2.57 Decrease5,963.0 Increase0.52 Increase1,213.3 Decrease-7.0% Template:IncreaseNegative255.8% Template:IncreaseNegative12.4% Template:DecreasePositive30.5%
1995 Increase2.92 Increase6,676.7 Increase0.99 Increase2,270.8 Increase11.3% Template:IncreaseNegative-49.3% Template:DecreasePositive8.4% Template:DecreasePositive16.3%
1996 Increase3.31 Increase7,470.8 Increase1.23 Increase2,790.0 Decrease11.2% Increase4.2% Template:IncreaseNegative10.9% Template:DecreasePositive11.8%
1997 Increase3.60 Increase8,012.7 Increase1.32 Increase2,945.3 Decrease7.0% Template:IncreaseNegative17.0% Template:DecreasePositive9.8% Template:IncreaseNegative16.8%
1998 Increase3.72 Increase8,182.7 Increase1.59 Increase3,495.3 Decrease2.2% Template:IncreaseNegative14.9% Template:IncreaseNegative10.6% Template:IncreaseNegative21.6%
1999 Increase3.74 Increase8,103.4 Decrease1.31 Decrease2,837.2 Decrease-0.9% Template:IncreaseNegative71.9% Template:IncreaseNegative12.0% Template:IncreaseNegative32.3%
2000 Increase3.82 Increase8,180.0 Increase1.36 Increase2,904.5 Decrease-0.1% Template:IncreaseNegative44.7% Template:IncreaseNegative13.8% Template:IncreaseNegative35.7%
2001 Increase4.09 Increase8,646.6 Decrease1.17 Decrease2,464.8 Increase4.9% Increase0.9% Template:DecreasePositive13.7% Template:IncreaseNegative37.2%
2002 Increase4.31 Increase9,001.5 Increase1.47 Increase3,075.4 Decrease3.7% Template:IncreaseNegative28.4% Template:DecreasePositive9.7% Template:DecreasePositive35.6%
2003 Increase4.67 Increase9,650.7 Increase1.73 Increase3,571.6 Increase6.1% Template:IncreaseNegative13.1% Template:DecreasePositive6.5% Template:DecreasePositive31.3%
2004 Increase5.15 Increase10,444.0 Increase2.0 Increase4,057.7 Increase7.4% Template:IncreaseNegative9.1% Template:IncreaseNegative8.4% Template:DecreasePositive29.5%
2005 Increase5.57 Increase11,171.8 Increase2.39 Increase4,800.8 Decrease4.9% Template:IncreaseNegative20.1% Template:IncreaseNegative11.1% Template:DecreasePositive27.1%
2006 Increase6.07 Increase12,042.7 Increase2.81 Increase5,577.1 Increase5.8% Increase4.8% Template:IncreaseNegative12.3% Template:DecreasePositive22.5%
2007 Increase6.56 Increase12,853.2 Increase3.14 Increase6,165.5 Decrease5.1% Template:IncreaseNegative8.3% Template:DecreasePositive10.7% Template:DecreasePositive16.4%
2008 Increase6.96 Increase13,456.3 Increase3.78 Increase7,316.5 Decrease4.1% Template:IncreaseNegative9.4% Template:DecreasePositive9.4% Template:DecreasePositive14.8%
2009 Increase7.21 Increase13,762.5 Increase4.15 Increase7,917.3 Decrease3.0% Increase1.3% Template:DecreasePositive8.7% Template:DecreasePositive14.6%
2010 Increase7.68 Increase13,453.2 Increase4.68 Increase8,806.0 Increase5.2% Template:IncreaseNegative10.3% Template:DecreasePositive7.2% Template:IncreaseNegative17.3%
2011 Increase8.30 Increase15,363.4 Increase4.74 Decrease8,770.3 Increase5.8% Template:IncreaseNegative5.2% Template:IncreaseNegative7.5% Template:IncreaseNegative18.7%
2012 Increase9.15 Increase16,889.6 Increase5.33 Increase9,844.7 Decrease2.7%Decrease Increase4.3% Template:IncreaseNegative8.1% Template:IncreaseNegative20.1%
2013 Increase9.85 Increase17,908.8 Increase5.51 Increase10,013.7 Increase2.9% Increase0.6% Template:DecreasePositive6.6% Template:IncreaseNegative27.9$
2014 Increase10.23 Increase18,301.2 Increase5.61 Increase10,042.7 Decrease0.3% Increase3.9% Template:DecreasePositive5.5% 25.2%
2015 Decrease9.62 Decrease16,962.5 Decrease5.13 Decrease9,036.3 Decrease-3.4% Template:IncreaseNegative25.1% Template:IncreaseNegative7.0% Template:IncreaseNegative41.1%
2016 Decrease8.51 Decrease14,777.8 Decrease3.32 Decrease5,761.8 Decrease-4.9% Template:IncreaseNegative52.4% Template:IncreaseNegative10.0% Template:IncreaseNegative74.8%
2017 Increase10.23 Increase17,879.6 Increase3.59 Increase6,156.5 Increase1.6% Template:IncreaseNegative9.3% Template:DecreasePositive7.0% Template:DecreasePositive71.5%
2018 Decrease9.62 Increase18,997.3 Increase4.00 Increase6,772.1 Increase4.9% Template:IncreaseNegative5.4% Template:IncreaseNegative9.0% Template:DecreasePositive66.1%
2019 Decrease8.51 Increase19,292.1 Decrease3.98 Decrease6,662.9 Decrease1.1% Increase4.2% Template:DecreasePositive8.8% Template:IncreaseNegative80.8%
2020 Increase9.83 Decrease16,311.2 Decrease2.88 Decrease4,786.8 Decrease-15.9% Template:IncreaseNegative60.7% Template:IncreaseNegative11.1% Template:IncreaseNegative143.8%
2021 Increase9.99 Increase16,379.9 Increase2.99 Decrease4,896.1 Increase-2.7% Template:IncreaseNegative60.7% Template:IncreaseNegative11.2% Template:DecreasePositive117.0%
2022 Increase10.83 Increase17,549.9 Increase3.52 Increase5,705.7 Increase1.3% Template:IncreaseNegative54.6% Template:DecreasePositive10.9% Template:IncreaseNegative123.2%
2023 Increase11.51 Increase18,427.1 Decrease3.47 Decrease5,556.5 Increase2.3% Template:IncreaseNegative28.2% Template:DecreasePositive10.6% Template:DecreasePositive112.2%
2024 Increase12.11 Increase19,871.4 Increase3.78 Increase5,980.7 Steady3.0% Template:IncreaseNegative15.1% Template:DecreasePositive10.3% Template:DecreasePositive103.2%
2025 Increase12.71 Decrease19,163.2 Increase3.96 Increase6,198.4 Steady3.0% Template:IncreaseNegative11.1% Template:DecreasePositive10% Template:DecreasePositive96.2%
2026 Increase13.33 Increase19,871.4 Increase4.19 Increase6,468.5 Steady3.0% Template:IncreaseNegative8.3% Template:DecreasePositive9.9% Template:DecreasePositive89.6%
2027 Increase13.98 Increase20,601.6 Increase4.44 Increase6,772.2 Steady3.0% Template:IncreaseNegative6.0% Template:DecreasePositive9.0% Template:DecreasePositive83.6%
2028 Increase14.68 Increase22,138.3 Increase4.69 Increase7,070.5 Steady3.0% Template:IncreaseNegative5.0% Template:DecreasePositive8.5% Template:DecreasePositive78.9%

Energy

Here follows the energy statistics of Suriname.[37]

Uncollapse first
Electricity access
electrification - total population: 97.4% (2018)
electrification - urban areas: 99% (2018)
electrification - rural areas: 94.3% (2018)
Electricity capacity
installed generating capacity: 542,000 kW (2020 est.)
consumption: 2,938,391,000 kWh (2019 est.)
exports: 0 kWh (2019 est.)
imports: 808 million kWh (2019 est.)
transmission/distribution losses: 234 million kWh (2019 est.)
Electricity generation sources
fossil fuels: 40.5% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
nuclear: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
solar: 0.4% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
wind: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
hydroelectricity: 58.8% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
tide and wave: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
geothermal: 0% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
biomass and waste: 0.3% of total installed capacity (2020 est.)
Coal and gas
No production, consumption, exports, imports of reserves (2020 est.)
Petroleum
total petroleum production: 14,800 bbl/day (2021 est.)
refined petroleum consumption: 15,800 bbl/day (2019 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate exports: 0 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil and lease condensate imports: 200 bbl/day (2018 est.)
crude oil estimated reserves: 89 million barrels (2021 est.)
Refined petroleum products - production

7,571 bbl/day (2015 est.) country comparison to the world: 101

Refined petroleum products - exports

14,000 bbl/day (2015 est.) country comparison to the world: 74

Refined petroleum products - imports

10,700 bbl/day (2015 est.) country comparison to the world: 145

Carbon dioxide emissions

2.372 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)

from coal and metallurgical coke: 0 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from petroleum and other liquids: 2.361 million metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)
from consumed natural gas: 11,000 metric tonnes of CO2 (2019 est.)country comparison to the world: 156
Energy consumption per capita

82.356 million Btu/person (2019 est.) country comparison to the world: 71

See also

References

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  9. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  10. ↑ CIA Factbook, Suriname - Economie, geraadpleegd juli 2019
  11. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  12. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  13. ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".
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  24. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  25. ↑ Suriname taps Lazard to advise on debt restructuring plan, Reuters, October 8, 2020
  26. ↑ Dagblad Suriname, Vereniging voor Effectenhandel in Suriname herdenkt 25-jarig bestaan, 13 January 2019 Template:In lang
  27. ↑ SSX, Bulletins Template:Webarchive Template:In lang
  28. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  29. ↑ United News, KKF viert 109-jarig bestaan, 18 juli 2019 Template:In lang
  30. ↑ STVS, Suriname-Nederland Kamer van Koophandel opgericht Template:Webarchive, 11 May 2018 Template:In lang
  31. ↑ De Ware Tijd, Handelskamer moet ondernemerschap Suriname en Nederland bevorderenScript error: No such module "Unsubst"., 12 April 2018 Template:In lang
  32. ↑ Suriname Herald, Suriname en Guyana slaan handen ineen voor oprichting Kamer van Koophandel, 31 August 2023 Template:In lang
  33. ↑ De Ware Tijd, ‘Bedrijfsleven gaat mee met hechtere relaties Suriname-India’Script error: No such module "Unsubst"., Ivan Cairo, 6 November 2018 Template:In lang
  34. ↑ Dagblad Suriname, Surinaamse Diaspora Dr. Barryl Biekman benoemd tot voorzitter van de Ghana Suriname Kamer van Koophandel, 17 August 2020 Template:In lang
  35. ↑ United News, Investsur eruit SITA erin, 14 November 2021 Template:In lang
  36. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
  37. ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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External links

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