Quality of life comparison
If you lived in Thailand instead of Suriname, you would:
Health
be 37.5% less likely to be living with HIV/AIDS
In Suriname, 1.6% of people are living with AIDS/HIV as of 2024. In Thailand, that number is 1.0% of people as of 2024.
live 2.8 years longer
In Suriname, the average life expectancy is 74 years (71 years for men, 77 years for women) as of 2024. In Thailand, that number is 77 years (72 years for men, 81 years for women) as of 2024.
be 46.9% less likely to be obese
In Suriname, 30.8% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Thailand, that number is 16.4% of people as of 2024.
have 30.2% more access to essential health services
Suriname scores 63 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Thailand scores 82 as of 2021.
be 25.5% less likely to die by suicide
Suriname has a suicide rate of 22.3 per 100,000 people as of 2021. In Thailand, it is 16.6 per 100,000 as of 2021.
have 60.1% fewer doctors per person
Suriname has 13.6 doctors per 10,000 people as of 2023. Thailand has 5.4 as of 2021.
Economy
be 90.0% less likely to be unemployed
In Suriname, 7.8% of the labor force is unemployed as of 2025. In Thailand, that number is 0.8% as of 2025.
be 69.3% less likely to live below the poverty line
In Suriname, 17.6% live below the poverty line as of 2022. In Thailand, however, that number is 5.4% as of 2022.
make 14.0% more money
Suriname has a GDP per capita of $7,070 as of 2025, while in Thailand, the GDP per capita is $8,057 as of 2025.
Life
be 59.5% less likely to die during childbirth
In Suriname, approximately 84.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Thailand, 34.0 women do as of 2023.
be 48.0% less likely to die during infancy
In Suriname, approximately 14.8 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Thailand, on the other hand, 7.7 children do as of 2024.
have 52.7% fewer children
In Suriname, there are approximately 17.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Thailand, there are 8.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.
Expenditures
spend 12.2% less on education
Suriname spends 2.9% of its total GDP on education as of 2023. Thailand spends 2.5% of total GDP on education as of 2023.
spend 16.1% less on healthcare
Suriname spends 5.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Thailand, that number is 4.5% of GDP as of 2023.
Geography
see 8.3 times more coastline
Suriname has a total of 386 km of coastline. In Thailand, that number is 3,219 km.
Safety
be 56.8% more likely to die in a road accident
In Suriname, road accidents kill 16.2 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Thailand, they kill 25.4 per 100,000 as of 2021.
Infrastructure
find 20.6% less home broadband
Suriname has 18.8 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2024. Thailand has 14.9 as of 2024.
live with 5.8 times more strain on fresh water
Suriname withdraws 4% of its available fresh water each year as of 2022. Thailand withdraws 23% as of 2022.
Environment
be 25.6% less likely to die from air pollution
In Suriname, air pollution causes 39.0 deaths per 100,000 people as of 2019. In Thailand, it causes 29.0 as of 2019.
Sources: World Bank (2021–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2019–2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this
Compare further: Suriname vs. Thailand
Thailand: At a glance
How big is Thailand compared to Suriname? See an in-depth size comparison.