Economy of Suriname

Economy of Suriname

Currency	Surinamese dollar (SRD) (since 2004) Surinamese guilder (SRG) (until 2003)
Fiscal year	Calendar year
Trade organisations	WTO, CARICOM, Unasur, Mercosur (associate)
Statistics
GDP	$3.470 billion (nominal, 2023 est.) [1] $11.508 billion (PPP, 2023 est.) [1]
GDP growth	-15.9% (2020e) -2.7% (2021e) 1.3% (2022e) 2.3% (2023e) [1]
GDP per capita	$5,557 (nominal, 2023 est.) [1] $18,427 (PPP, 2023 est.) [1]
GDP by sector	agriculture: 10.4%; industry: 36.6%; services: 52.9% (2012 est.)
Inflation (CPI)	22 % (2020) [2]
Population below poverty line	70% (2002 est.)
Human Development Index	0.724 high (2018) [3] (98th) 0.557 IHDI (2018) [4]
Labour force	220,600 (2020) [5]
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 8%; industry: 14%; services: 78% (2004)
Unemployment	7.47% (2020) [6]
Main industries	bauxite and gold mining, alumina production; oil, lumbering, food processing, fishing
External
Exports	$2.51 billion (2018)
Export goods	Gold, alumina, Wood, crude oil, lumber, shrimp and fish, rice, bananas
Main export partners	Switzerland: 40.6%   Hong Kong: 17.6%   United Arab Emirates: 13.8%   Belgium: 8.51%   Guyana: 4.63%   United States: 2.82%   China: 2.38%   India: 1.79%   Netherlands: 1.5%   Singapore: 1.09% Others: 48.73% (2018) [7]
Imports	$1.84 billion (2018)
Import goods	capital equipment, petroleum, foodstuffs, cotton, consumer goods
Main import partners	China: 14.1%   Germany: 8.19%   United States: 7.84%   Japan: 3.88%   South Korea: 3.35%   France: 3.06%   Netherlands: 2.99%   Italy: 2.94%   United Kingdom: 2.52%   Mexico: 2.4% Others: 48.73% (2018) [8]
Gross external debt	$504.3 million (2005 est.)
Public finances
Revenues	$826.6 million (2010 est.)
Expenses	$939.7 million (2010 est.)
Economic aid	Netherlands provided $37 million for project and program assistance, European Development Fund $4 million, Belgium $2 million (2003)
Credit rating	Standard & Poor's:CCC Outlook: Stable [9] Moody's: [9] Caa2 Outlook: Stable Fitch: [9] CCC Outlook: Highly Vulnerable
Foreign reserves	$647.3 million (2019) [10]
All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

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. ^[11]

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. ^[12]

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). ^[13]

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. ^[14]

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. ^[15] There is also wide production of plantains in Suriname.

Mineral industry

Main article: Mineral industry of Suriname

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. ^[16] With an export value of USD 1.83 billion in 2023, the gold sector makes an important contribution to the economy. ^[17]

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. ^[18] In November 2015 Suralco ceased the mining of bauxite completely. ^[19]

Oil

The exploration and exploitation of oil adds substantially to the economy of Suriname at about 10% of the GDP. ^[20] 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 16,200 barrels (2,580 m³) a day. ^[21] 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. ^[22]

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. ^[23] In 2023 they signed three more of such contracts. ^[24]

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. ^{[25] [26] [27]} The first production will start with the development of oil block 58 in 2028 ^[28] in which STAATSOLIE has a share of 20%. ^[29] It's projected that Suriname will make around USD 7 billion in the first five production years. ^[30]

Currency

Moreover, in January 2002, the government renego STAATSOLIE and other local players are anticipating on the development of the off-shore oil industry. ^[31] tiated 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. ^[32] By June 2022, official exchange rates began to reflect the real floating exchange rate. ^[33]

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. ^[34]

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. ^[35] Stock trading does not occur daily but twice a month on the first and third Thursday. There are twelve companies listed on the exchange. ^[36]

Mechanisms

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. ^[37] 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. ^{[38] [39]} Furthermore there is a Suriname-Guyana Chamber of Commerce, ^[40] a Suriname-India Chamber of Commerce and Industry ^[41] and a Ghana-Suriname Chamber of Commerce. ^[42]

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. ^[43]

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. ^[44]

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	2.19	n/a	1.28	n/a	-6.5%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1981	2.44	n/a	1.43	n/a	1.9%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1982	2.43	n/a	1.47	n/a	-6.3%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1983	2.39	n/a	1.42	n/a	-5.1%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1984	2.41	n/a	1.39	n/a	-3.0%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1985	2.46	n/a	1.40	n/a	-0.9%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1986	2.45	n/a	1.43	n/a	-2.4%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1987	2.29	n/a	1.57	n/a	-8.8%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1988	2.63	n/a	1.86	n/a	10.8%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1989	2.79	n/a	2.18	n/a	2.3%	n/a	n/a	n/a
1990	2.85	6,984.2	0.58	1,413.6	-1.5%	n/a	n/a	72.9%
1991	2.54	6,132.3	0.64	1,536.0	-13.8%	14.0%	n/a	75.7%
1992	2.70	6,440.0	0.59	1,406.6	3.9%	33.0%	n/a	64.4%
1993	2.70	6,352.8	0.47	1,093.1	-2.2%	139.1%	n/a	51.1%
1994	2.57	5,963.0	0.52	1,213.3	-7.0%	255.8%	12.4%	30.5%
1995	2.92	6,676.7	0.99	2,270.8	11.3%	-49.3%	8.4%	16.3%
1996	3.31	7,470.8	1.23	2,790.0	11.2%	4.2%	10.9%	11.8%
1997	3.60	8,012.7	1.32	2,945.3	7.0%	17.0%	9.8%	16.8%
1998	3.72	8,182.7	1.59	3,495.3	2.2%	14.9%	10.6%	21.6%
1999	3.74	8,103.4	1.31	2,837.2	-0.9%	71.9%	12.0%	32.3%
2000	3.82	8,180.0	1.36	2,904.5	-0.1%	44.7%	13.8%	35.7%
2001	4.09	8,646.6	1.17	2,464.8	4.9%	0.9%	13.7%	37.2%
2002	4.31	9,001.5	1.47	3,075.4	3.7%	28.4%	9.7%	35.6%
2003	4.67	9,650.7	1.73	3,571.6	6.1%	13.1%	6.5%	31.3%
2004	5.15	10,444.0	2.0	4,057.7	7.4%	9.1%	8.4%	29.5%
2005	5.57	11,171.8	2.39	4,800.8	4.9%	20.1%	11.1%	27.1%
2006	6.07	12,042.7	2.81	5,577.1	5.8%	4.8%	12.3%	22.5%
2007	6.56	12,853.2	3.14	6,165.5	5.1%	8.3%	10.7%	16.4%
2008	6.96	13,456.3	3.78	7,316.5	4.1%	9.4%	9.4%	14.8%
2009	7.21	13,762.5	4.15	7,917.3	3.0%	1.3%	8.7%	14.6%
2010	7.68	13,453.2	4.68	8,806.0	5.2%	10.3%	7.2%	17.3%
2011	8.30	15,363.4	4.74	8,770.3	5.8%	5.2%	7.5%	18.7%
2012	9.15	16,889.6	5.33	9,844.7	2.7%	4.3%	8.1%	20.1%
2013	9.85	17,908.8	5.51	10,013.7	2.9%	0.6%	6.6%	27.9$
2014	10.23	18,301.2	5.61	10,042.7	0.3%	3.9%	5.5%	25.2%
2015	9.62	16,962.5	5.13	9,036.3	-3.4%	25.1%	7.0%	41.1%
2016	8.51	14,777.8	3.32	5,761.8	-4.9%	52.4%	10.0%	74.8%
2017	10.23	17,879.6	3.59	6,156.5	1.6%	9.3%	7.0%	71.5%
2018	9.62	18,997.3	4.00	6,772.1	4.9%	5.4%	9.0%	66.1%
2019	8.51	19,292.1	3.98	6,662.9	1.1%	4.2%	8.8%	80.8%
2020	9.83	16,311.2	2.88	4,786.8	-15.9%	60.7%	11.1%	143.8%
2021	9.99	16,379.9	2.99	4,896.1	-2.7%	60.7%	11.2%	117.0%
2022	10.83	17,549.9	3.52	5,705.7	1.3%	54.6%	10.9%	123.2%
2023	11.51	18,427.1	3.47	5,556.5	2.3%	28.2%	10.6%	112.2%
2024	12.11	19,871.4	3.78	5,980.7	3.0%	15.1%	10.3%	103.2%
2025	12.71	19,163.2	3.96	6,198.4	3.0%	11.1%	10%	96.2%
2026	13.33	19,871.4	4.19	6,468.5	3.0%	8.3%	9.9%	89.6%
2027	13.98	20,601.6	4.44	6,772.2	3.0%	6.0%	9.0%	83.6%
2028	14.68	22,138.3	4.69	7,070.5	3.0%	5.0%	8.5%	78.9%

Energy

Here follows the energy statistics of Suriname. ^[45]

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

• Economy of South America
• Ministry of Finance (Suriname)

References

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External links

• With Aid and Migrants, China Expands Its Presence in a South American Nation in The New York Times by Simon Romero published April 10, 2011
• Amazon Gold Rush: Gold Mining in Suriname web map, published October 12, 2015