Suriname Poverty and Equity Assessment Annex 1 - Suriname Poverty and Equity Diagnostic - Key Findings - Poverty Statistics

Jul 19, 2026

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Annex 1 delivers an evidence-based poverty and equity diagnostic for Suriname, anchored in national poverty lines, World Bank upper-middle-income thresholds, and multidimensional poverty measures. It summarizes 2022 headline statistics, profiling who is poor, where poor households live, and how poverty varies by geography, ethnicity, household size, education, and age. The annex explains key deprivation drivers—chronic illness, disability, low education, limited ICT skills, and lack of health insurance—and reviews how poverty evolves alongside macroeconomic and labor-market conditions, including trends from panel data and data-quality considerations.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages56

Reading Time2 h 21 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Key Findings

1. Introduction

2. Headline 2022 Poverty and Inequality Statistics for Suriname

3. Poverty Profile

4. Income-generating Assets

5. Evolution of Poverty

APPENDICES

Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized Pub lic Disclosure Authorized ANNEX 1. SURINAME: POVERTY AND EQUITY DIAGNOSTIC SURINAME POVERTY AND EQUITY ASSESSMENT CONTENTS Key Findings 6 1. Introduction 7 2. Headline 2022 Poverty and Inequality Statistics for Suriname 11 2.1. Poverty, Inequality, and Prosperity 12 2.2. International Comparisons 13 2.3. Multidimensional Poverty 14 3. Poverty Profile 16 3.1. Where Do the Poor Live? 17 3.2. Sociodemographic Characteristics of the Poor 18 3.3. Consumption Expenditure of the Poor 22 3.4. Food Security 23 4. Income-generating Assets 25 4.1. Education 26 4.2. Employment 27 4.3. Own Production 29 4.4. Ownership of Physical Assets 29 4.5. Access to Services 30 5. Evolution of Poverty 32 5.1. Macroeconomic Background 33 5.2. Poverty Trends 34 APPENDICES 38 Appendix A1.1. The Suriname Survey of Living Conditions 39 Appendix A1.2. Consumption Aggregates 39 Appendix A1.3. Poverty Lines 40 Appendix A1.4. Multidimensional Poverty 42 Appendix A1.5. Comparison of Reported Income and Consumption 44 Appendix A1.6. Results Based on Panel Data 45 Appendix A1.7. Additional Poverty Profile Tables 47 References 53 BOX Box A1.1. A Note on Estimating Poverty in Suriname 8 FIGURES Figure A1.1. About 17.5 Percent of the Population Lives Below Suriname’s National Poverty Line 12 Figure A1.2. Comparison of Poverty with Other Countries: Suriname’s Poverty Rate Is Not Out of Line with Its Level of GDP Per Capita (Percent) 13 Figure A1.3. Inequality and Prosperity Indicators in Suriname Are Comparable to Those of Countries with Similar Levels of GDP Per Capita 14 Figure A1.4. About 46 percent Surinamese Are Multidimensionally Poor (Percent) 15 Figure A1.5. Suriname: Illness, Low Education, Limited ICT Skills, and Lack of Medical Insurance Are Important Determinants of Multidimensional Poverty 15 Figure A1.6. Suriname: Poverty Rates Are Higher in the Interior of the Country (Percent) 17 Figure A1.7. Suriname: The Interior Is Home to a Disproportionate Share of the Poor (Percent) 18 Figure A1.8. Poverty Is Highest among Surinamese of Maroon, Indigenous, and Hindu Ethnicity (Percent) 19 Figure A1.9. Suriname: A Clear Correlation between Poverty and the Level of Education of the Household Head (Percent) 19 Figure A1.10. Suriname: Poverty Rates Are Higher in Larger Households (Percent) 20 SURINAME POVERTY AND EQUITY ASSESSMENT Figure A1.11. Suriname: Poverty Rates Are Higher in Households with Children (Percent) 21 Figure A1.12. Suriname: Poverty Rates of Women and Men Overlap in Most Age Ranges (Percent) 21 Figure A1.13. Suriname: Expenditure Type as Percent of Total Expenditure 22 Figure A1.14. Suriname: Expenditure Type as a Percent of Non-food Expenditure Based on the Classification of Individual Consumption According to Purpose (COICOP) Groups 23 Figure A1.15. Suriname: Food Insecurity Is More Common in the Interior (Percent) 24 Figure A1.16. Suriname: The Poor Have Less Education 26 Figure A1.17. Suriname: The Poor Are Less Likely to Be in the Labor Force and More Likely to Be Unemployed (Percent) 27 Figure A1.18. Suriname’s Informality Rate: Work in the Informal Sector Is Especially Common in the Poorest Households (Percent) 28 Figure A1.19. Suriname: Weekly Working Hours Are Somewhat Lower in the Bottom Decile (Weekly hours worked) 28 Figure A1.20. Suriname: Share of Consumption Derived from Own Production Is Higher in the Interior (Percent) 29 Figure A1.21. Suriname: Share of Population that Owns a Car or Their Dwelling, b y Consumption Decile (Percent) 30 Figure A1.22. Suriname: Share of Population with Private Health Insurance, Bank Account, or Internet Access, by Consumption Decile (Percent) 30 Figure A1.23. Suriname Has Continued to Experience a Macroeconomic Slump since 2016 33 Figure A1.24. Suriname: Inflation

FAQs

How is poverty measured in this annex for Suriname?

Poverty is classified using consumption relative to Suriname’s national poverty line and the World Bank upper-middle-income poverty line, supplemented by a multidimensional poverty approach.

What are the main contributors to multidimensional poverty?

Chronic illness, disability, lack of medical or health insurance, low education, and limited information and communications technology (ICT) skills are identified as significant contributors.

Where is poverty highest and which groups show higher poverty rates?

Poverty rates are higher in Suriname’s interior than in other regions, and they also vary by ethnicity, with higher rates reported among specific ethnic groups and in larger households and households with children.

Jul 19, 2026

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