Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Suriname instead of Cook Islands, you would:

Health

be 57.4% less likely to be obese

In Cook Islands, 72.4% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Suriname, that number is 30.8% of people as of 2024.

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have 37.0% more access to essential health services

Cook Islands scores 46 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Suriname scores 63 as of 2021.

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live 3.4 years less

In Cook Islands, the average life expectancy is 77 years (74 years for men, 80 years for women) as of 2022. In Suriname, that number is 74 years (71 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2024.

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Life

have 41.7% more children

In Cook Islands, there are approximately 12.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Suriname, there are 17.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 34.9% more likely to have internet access

In Cook Islands, approximately 64.8% of the population has internet access as of 2021. In Suriname, about 87.4% do as of 2023.

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Expenditures

spend 37.6% less on education

Cook Islands spends 4.6% of its total GDP on education as of 2021. Suriname spends 2.9% of total GDP on education as of 2023.

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spend 69.1% more on healthcare

Cook Islands spends 3.2% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2020. In Suriname, that number is 5.4% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 3.2 times more coastline

Cook Islands has a total of 120 km of coastline. In Suriname, that number is 386 km.

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Sources: The World Factbook (2020–2024), World Bank (2023–2024), World Health Organization (2024), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021). How we calculate this

Compare further: Cook Islands vs. Suriname

Cost of Living Comparison · 5 categories - 2026 data
Suriname is 21.1% cheaper than Cook Islands overall
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Size Comparison · See true size
Cook Islands is about 694 times smaller than Suriname.
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Moving from Cook Islands to Suriname · Cost, visas & climate
Compare cost of living, salary and climate.
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Suriname: At a glance

Suriname is a sovereign country in South America, with a total land area of approximately 156,000 sq km. First explored by the Spaniards in the 16th century and then settled by the English in the mid-17th century, Suriname became a Dutch colony in 1667. With the abolition of African slavery in 1863, workers were brought in from India and Java. Independence from the Netherlands was granted in 1975. Five years later the civilian government was replaced by a military regime that soon declared a socialist republic. It continued to exert control through a succession of nominally civilian administrations until 1987, when international pressure finally forced a democratic election. In 1990, the military overthrew the civilian leadership, but a democratically elected government - a four-party coalition - returned to power in 1991. The coalition expanded to eight parties in 2005 and ruled until August 2010, when voters returned former military leader Desire BOUTERSE and his opposition coalition to power.
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How big is Suriname compared to Cook Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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