SURINAME

The Republic of Suriname, the former Dutch Guyana in the middle of the three Guyanas, is situated at the north-eastern coast of South-America, north of Brazil, between 2 and 6 degrees northern latitude, and 54 and 58 degrees western longitude. The nation’s territory covers an area of 163,820 sq. km and has about 405,000 inhabitants. This means that with an average of 2.5 persons per sq. km it is one of the most sparsely populated countries in the world. Noteworthy is also the slow population growth. In recent years this has been no more than 0.13% per annum. (population size and growth)

The largest portion of the population lives in the fertile coastal plains, where we also find the capital Paramaribo with 300,000 inhabitants. Since the beginning of the seventies there has been an enormous migration of Surinamers to the Netherlands. It is estimated that around 250,000 people of Surinamese descent live in Holland.

The populations is highly mixed, and comprises several racial groups, who came to Suriname at different times from different places. This was the result of the immigration which started after the abolition of slavery on July 1^st 1863.

The native Indians (3%) are the indigenous inhabitants;

Negroes (33%) came from the western parts of Central Africa, e.g. Ghana, as slaves, from 1621 to 1818;
Bushnegroes (see: Negroes) are descendants from slaves who escaped from the plantations and established their own communities in the jungle of Suriname;
Creoles, also descendants from the Negro slaves. Within this group there has been some ethnic blending;
Hindustani (East-Indians, 35%) came from the west coast of India as indentured laborers, from 1873 until 1916;
Javanese (16%), descendants from Java, Indonesia, who also came as indentured laborers from 1890 to 1939;
the Chinese (2%) came to Suriname since 1853, first as indentured laborers and later on as free immigrants;
Others (1%) came since1593 as free immigrants: Dutch peasants (1853), immigrants from Madeira (1853), Lebanon, Guyana, etc.

Just as diverse as the composition of the population is, so too are the spoken languages in the territory. In Suriname not less than fifteen native languages are spoken. The official language is Dutch, while all Surinamers can communicate with one another through the use of the lingua franca, Sranantongo. Other languages are: Hindi, Javanese, Chinese, English, and about nine other tribal languages of the indigenous and the Bushnegroes.

A third of the population lives abroad: in the Netherlands, the Dutch Antilles, the United States and in the immediate neighboring countries. The immense emigration started on the eve of the political independence in 1975 and has ever since continued to a greater or lesser degree. Presently there is an annual average migration of Surinamers of 4,000 people.

Capital: Paramaribo

Official Language: Dutch Other Languages spoken: Sranan Tongo/Javanese/Hindi/Hakka/English/several languages of Maroon and Amerindian origin

Area: 163,820 km2 Forest: 96 of total Area Population (end 1994): 404,454 Growth rate: 0.74 Density: 2.5 per km2 Temperature (Average): 27 C Minimum temperature: 23 C Maximum temperature: 32 C (Weather forecast)

Currency: Guilder Exchange Rate (per 1 US$) 1994 (monthly average): 201,05 Sf. 1995 (monthly average): 441,75 Sf. 1997 (monthly average): 406,00 Sf. (For GDP)

Export of goods: 60.226 mln. Sf. Bauxite products: 79% Fishery products: 10% Agricultural products: 8%

Import of goods: 59,610 mln. Sf. Raw materials: 38% Investment goods: 26% Consumption goods: 22% Combustibles: 14% Consumer Price Index: (1980=100) 1993: 1,479 1994: 6,926 1995: 23,242 1996: 22,855 (August) 1. 1994, unless otherwise stated: source GBS. (For Value of Import and Export tot Caricom and Non caricom Countries)

Average Real Labor Cost by Type of Activity:

(Employee Real Labor Costs per sector)

Population Size and Growth

Year	Begin Population	Net. Pop. Growth	Net. Migration	Abs. Growth	End Population	Avr. Population	%Growth
1986	388,160	7,385	(3,182)	4,203	392,363	390,262	1.1
1987	392,363	7,193	(4,887)	2,306	394,669	393,516	0.6
1988	394,669	6,640	(2,392)	4,248	398,917	396,793	1.1
1989	398,917	7,500	(3,267)	4,233	403,150	401,037	1.1
1990	403,150	6,753	(4,103)	2,650	405,800	404,475	0.7
1991	405,800	6,531	(3,791)	2,740	408,540	407,170	0.7
1992	408,540	7,118	(3,301)	3,887	412,427	410,484	0.9
1993	412,427	6,400	(5,166)	1,234	413,661	413,044	0.3
1994	413,661	5,576	(1,443)	4,133	417,794	415,728	1.0
1995	417,794	6,021	(400)	5,621	423,415	420,605	1.3
1996	423,415	6,499	(1,002)	5,497	426,912	426,164	1.5

Source: Central Registry Office/CBB

Table 5.2 : Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and Gross National Product (GNP) at Factor Cost, respectively at market prices as well as National Income and per Capita National Income (1990 - 1995) 1)#
Tabel 5.2: Bruto Binnenlands Produkt (BBP) en Bruto Nationaal Produkt (BNP) tegen faktorkosten, respectievelijk marktprijzen alsook het nationaal inkomen en het per capita inkomen (1990 - 1995) 1)#
	1990	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995
Current GDP (Factor Cost = fc)	2883	3422	4726	10870	61293	179977
Current GNP (fc)	2868	3402	4713	10616	60555	178595
Constant GDP (1980 prices/fc )	1342	1380	1353	1225	1190	1144
Constant GNP (1980 prices/ fc )	1334	1372	1350	1197	1175	1135

Current GDP ( Market prices=mp)	3168	3755	5123	11117	64891	189116
Current GNP (mp)	3153	3735	5110	10863	64153	187734
Constant GDP (1980 prices/mp)	1473	1514	1468	1253	1260	1202
Constant GNP (1980 prices/mp)	1467	1506	1464	1225	1245	1193

National Income	2812	3268	4474	9442	57174	165733
National Income (1980 prices) per capita	3256	3276	3179	2638	2744	2575

#: Revised figures 1990-1993 1) Excluding the real per capital national income, which is expressed in Surinamese guilders, all data are in millions of Surinamese guilders 2) To derive at the constant price estimates the BBP-deflator was used Source: General Bureau of Statistics, Section of National Accounts Statistics Last Updated on 2/20/98
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Table 5.3: Value of Annual Export and Imports ¹⁾ from Caricomcountries and from (non-Caricom) Main Trading Partners (1993 - 1994)
Tabel 5.3: De waarde van de jaarlijkse invoer ¹⁾ en invoer uit Caricomlanden en de belangrijkste (niet Caricom) handelspartners (1993 - 1994)
Country	Export		Import
	1993	*1994 ^)**	1993	*1994 ^)**
Bahamas	-	-	8,914,930	446,414,909
Barbados	119,017	25,395,232	158,405	1,470,256
Guyana	1,420,022	55,128,742	7,852,982	353,189,869
Jamaica	75,001	25,000	3,869,343	315,264,608
Trinidad & Tobago	26,935,767	1,083,715,510	341,260,977	6,186,165,645
Other Caricomcountries	2,065	741,226	14,669	5,722,109
Total Caricomcountries	28,551,872	1,165,005,710	362,071,306	7,308,227,396

U.S.A.	612,980,871	11,202,173,194	749,078,856	28,268,006,388
The Netherlands	624,461,592	13,771,138,029	228,992,958	10,603,199,104
Netherlands Antilles	34,746,104	3,114,502,930	26,944,920	806,121,489
Brazil	365,882,467	3,729,782,050	15,660,160	723,569,349
Great Britain	13,756,812	1,855,232,404	10,313,557	2,705,336,246
Italy	-	-	30,387,476	662,978,461
Japan	53,512,843	4,182,914,892	25,881,488	1,678,268,269
Norway	486,802,597	17,523,247,517
France	25,535,616	858,535,589
Germany	-	-	9,844,449	787,155,291

Total (non-Caricom) main Trading Partners	2,217,678,902	56,237,526,605	1,097,103,864	46,234,634,597
Other countries	72,592,456	4,976,875,952	301,171,848	6,066,645,462
Total Imports	2,318,823,230	62,379.408,267	1,760,347,018	59,609,507,455

1) 1993,1994 Inclusive of re-imports Note: all values are in Surinamese Guilders Source: General Bureau of Statistics, Section of Trade Statistics
Last Updated on 2/19/98
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Table 7.3 :Consumer Price Index Numbers 1) for Suriname and some other Caricom countries, as well as for its (non-Caricom) Main Trading Partners (1991 - 1995)
Table 7.3: Prijsindexcijfers 1) van de gezinsconsumptie voor Suriname en enkele andere Caricomlanden, alsook voor zijn belangrijkste (niet-Caricom) handelspartners (1991 - 1995)
	Jaar/Year
Land	1991	1992	1993	1994	1995	Country

Verenigde Staten	104.2	107.4	110.6	113.4	116.6	U.S.A.
Nederland	103.8	106.4	109.2	112.2	114.4	The Netherlands
Groot-Britannië	105.9	109.9	111.6	114.3	118.2	Great Britain
Duitsland	103.5	108.8	113.7	116.8	118.0	West Germany
Japan	103.3	105.0	106.4	107.1	107.0	Japan

Caricom:						Caricom:
Bahamas	107.2	113.4	116.5	118.0	.	Bahamas
Barbados	106.3	112.7	114.0	114.1	103.0	Barbados
Dominica	106.0	111.1	113.1	113.1	114.6	Dominica
Grenada	102.7	106.6	109.5	112.3	114.9	Grenada
Suriname	126.0	181.0	440.7	2064.5	6927.8	Suriname
Trinidad & Tobago	103.8	110.6	122.5	133.2	140.3	Trinidad & Tobago

1) Base period 1990=100 Source: -For Suriname: General Bureau of Statistics - For other Countries: Monthly Bulletin of Statistics (vol.L, no 11--- November 1996)
Last Updated on 2/19/98
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Table 7.4 : Value in 1980 and Indices of Average, Monthly per Employee Real Labour Cost by Type of Activity (1981 - 1995 / 1980 = 100).

Tabel 7.4 : De waarde uit 1980 en de indexcijfers van de maandelijkse gemiddelde reële bruto arbeidskosten per werknemer per bedrijfstak (1981 - 1995 / 1980 = 100).

Type of activity (ISIC rev. 2 code)

Year	2	3#	4	5	6#	7#	81	82	9\91#	91	Totaal#
1908 $	13,154	5,666	9,662	4,261	5,258	8,792	10,738	9,174	2,803	3,678	5,375 $
1980	23.415	10.085	17.198	7.584	9,360	15,650	19.113	16,329	4,990	6,546	9,568 SF
1981	105	106	94	109	106	105	95	112	92	112	106
1982	121	109	100	97	106	107	104	112	91	121	112
1983	130	107	103	94	111	122	109	120	92	119	113
1984	148	111	108	106	113	124	113	125	87	118	116
1985	127	109	104	105	114	119	101	122	90	110	108
1986	111	90	95	92	99	110	89	111	83	100	95
1987	71	59	69	60	61	76	59	76	60	72	69
1988	71	59	69	56	69	66	65	77	55	66	60
1989	76	68	74	62	68	70	65	81	55	74	66
1990	61	57	65	56	63	65	56	74	59	59	54
1991	52	51	58	58	53	54	54	64	45	61	52
1992	43	45	49	49	47	45	43	50	36	53	44
1993	37	28	33	42	40	52	23	36	20	28	29
1994	87	27	13	12*)	41	54	35	37	18	23	33
*1995)**	173	41	20	.	71	175	74	31	23	30	50

Legend:

2. Mining and Quarrying

3. Manufacturing

4. Electricity. Gas and Water

5. Construction

6. Wholesale and Retail Trade and Restaurants and Hotels

7. Transport,Storage and Communication

81. Financial Institutions

82. Insurance

9\91. Community , social and Personal Services (excluding Public Administration and Defence)

91. Public Administration and Defence

Note: # Revised Figures 1980-1987

Source: General Bureau of Statistics, Section: Enterprises Statistics