Cost of Living inParamaribo, Suriname
Image credit: Rijksmuseum
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Suriname: $19,179/capita.
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 58% lower than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Using the country-level NYC comparison for now. We do not have a defensible city-level aggregate cost index for this city yet.
Income Category
GDP per Capita
City Population
Child Education
Public-schooling rules and international-school pricing are not sourced for Suriname yet. Quality, expat-access, instruction language, and tuition will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Paramaribo. We publish this section only when we can tie it to local job-board, agency, or country fallback evidence.
Getting Around
Neighborhood mobility profiles are rolling out city by city.Paramaribo is still missing a verified walkability, transit, airport, and rideshare profile.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Suriname.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedThis is a broad country-level read based on coverage, staffing, beds, and spending.
Public care
MixedRelatively low patient cost-sharing support this rating.
Private care
LimitedThe tracked private-style network still looks thin and self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
UHC coverage
74/100
2023
Physicians
1.35/1k
2023
Hospital beds
2.87/1k
2022
Out of pocket
20%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
73.8 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
84/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
9.7/1k
2024
International patient readiness
LimitedPrice transparency is still sparse weigh on this rating.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Suriname yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Real Estate | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2024 annual wages in Paramaribo, Suriname · Source: GDP-derived estimate (national)
Price Comparison vs. US
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
Quick comparison FAQ
Structured from the deltas already shown on this page — no invented facts, no extra data sources.
How far does your money go in Paramaribo compared with the US?
Your money goes about 3.5x further in Paramaribo than in the US, based on the current PPP estimate. We are using the country-level cost index for Suriname here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
Is Paramaribo cheaper or more expensive overall than New York City?
Paramaribo is cheaper overall than New York City — overall living costs are about 58% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City) for Paramaribo. We are using the country-level cost index for Suriname here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How does rent in Paramaribo compare with New York City?
Rent in Paramaribo is about 89% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City). We are using the country-level cost index for Suriname here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
How expensive are groceries and restaurants in Paramaribo?
Groceries in Paramaribo are about 49% cheaper than the global benchmark (New York City), and restaurant prices are about 60% cheaper than the same benchmark. We are using the country-level cost index for Suriname here because a defensible city-level aggregate index is not available yet.
About Paramaribo
Paramaribo is the capital and overwhelmingly the dominant city of Suriname, holding roughly half the country's national population on the Suriname River about 15 kilometers inland from the Atlantic coast. The colonial inner city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site notable for wooden Dutch colonial architecture. The economy leans on bauxite legacy infrastructure, gold mining, recently discovered offshore oil prospects, and government services. Suriname is the only sovereign state in the Americas where Dutch is the official language, though Sranan Tongo serves as the common lingua franca alongside Hindi, Javanese, and English. The climate is equatorial with rain year-round and two distinct rainy seasons. For relocators, Paramaribo offers a genuinely unusual cultural and linguistic environment with strong onward connections to the Netherlands.
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