Suriname

Suriname: Mid-Sized Economy With Elevated Debt and a Small Military

Suriname's economy produced gross domestic product of $4,416,775,112.10 in 2024, per World Bank WDI, with a population of 634,431 in the same year. That combination yields a GDP per capita of $6,961.79 for 2024, per World Bank WDI. The IMF's World Economic Outlook projects government debt at 87.1% of GDP for 2026, a notably high level within this bundle, while World Bank WDI records foreign exchange reserves of $1,632,317,813.40 for 2024, a reserves cushion sizeable relative to the government debt figure above.

Governance

V-Dem's v15 dataset scores Suriname's electoral democracy at 0.781 and liberal democracy at 0.626 for 2025, alongside a state-capacity score of 0.803 for the same year. The gap between the electoral and liberal democracy scores — both on V-Dem's 0-to-1 scale — reflects V-Dem's distinct methodological components, with the liberal democracy index incorporating additional checks on executive power beyond the electoral process itself. The state-capacity score of 0.803 points to comparatively robust administrative functioning as measured by V-Dem for 2025.

Military capacity

The Correlates of War National Material Capabilities dataset records 2,000 active military personnel for 2022 and a Composite Index of National Capability (CINC) score of 6.0951748e-05 for the same year. That CINC score reflects Suriname's combined share of the international system's military, demographic and economic capability as computed by Correlates of War for that year.

Energy

Our World in Data's Energy dataset records primary energy consumption of 0.0404 exajoules in 2023 and electricity generation of 1.74 terawatt-hours in 2024. Oil production stands at 11.536 terawatt-hours for 2016, while gas production is recorded at zero for the same year. The presence of recorded oil production is a notable feature of Suriname's own energy profile in this bundle, though the figure is now the oldest in the series.

Data gaps

• No SIPRI military expenditure figures are present, so defense spending cannot be assessed alongside the governance and capability figures above.
• Oil and gas production data date to 2016, the oldest figures in this bundle, while electricity and primary energy figures run to 2023 and 2024.
• The governance figures are dated 2025 and the CINC and personnel figures 2022; no single year links all three categories.

Sources: World Bank WDI; IMF WEO; V-Dem v15; Correlates of War National Material Capabilities; Our World in Data (Energy)