Demographics of Suriname

This article is about the demographic features of the population of Suriname, including population density, ethnicity, education level, health of the populace, economic status, religious affiliations and other aspects of the population.

Most Surinamese people live in the narrow, northern coastal plain. The population is one of the most ethnically varied in the world. Each ethnic group preserves its own culture and many institutions, including political parties, tend to follow ethnic lines. Informal relationships vary: the upper classes of all ethnic backgrounds mix freely; outside of the elite, social relations tend to remain within ethnic groupings. All groups may be found in the schools and workplace.

Population

Demographics of Suriname, Data of FAO, year 2005 ; Number of inhabitants in thousands.

According to the 2010 revison of the World Population Prospects the total population was 525,000 in 2010, compared to only 215,000 in 1950. The proportion of children below the age of 15 in 2010 was 28.6%, 65% was between 15 and 65 years of age, while 6.5% was 65 years or older . According to 2012 census, there were 270,629 males and 271,009 females in Suriname.

	Total population (x 1000)	Proportion aged 0–14 (%)	Proportion aged 15–64 (%)	Proportion aged 65+ (%)
1950	215	40.0	54.0	6.0
1955	250	43.2	52.0	4.8
1960	290	47.6	48.3	4.1
1965	332	48.2	47.8	4.0
1970	372	48.3	47.8	3.9
1975	364	47.6	48.5	3.9
1980	366	39.9	55.7	4.4
1985	376	35.8	59.8	4.5
1990	407	33.3	62.0	4.7
1995	436	32.2	62.6	5.2
2000	467	30.6	63.7	5.7
2005	500	29.8	64.1	6.1
2010	525	28.6	65.0	6.5

Total and Percent Distribution of Population by Age (Censuses 2004 & 2012)

Age group	Population(2004)	Percent(2004)	Population(2012)	Percent(2012)
Total	492.829	100	541.638	100
0-14	146.389	29,81	148.767	27.47
15-59	299.547	60,78	334.949	61,84
60+	42.189	8,56	54.527	10,07

Structure of the population

Structure of the population (02.08.2004) (Census) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	248 046	244 783	492 829	100
0-4	26 252	25 585	51 837	10,52
5-9	25 200	24 209	49 409	10,03
10-14	22 889	22 254	45 143	9,16
15-19	23 465	23 043	46 508	9,44
20-24	22 437	21 406	43 843	8,90
25-29	19 006	18 895	37 901	7,69
30-34	19 828	19 166	38 994	7,91
35-39	19 179	18 100	37 279	7,56
40-44	17 657	16 328	33 985	6,90
45-49	12 643	12 992	25 635	5,20
50-54	9 933	10 487	20 420	4,14
55-59	6 955	8 027	14 982	3,04
60-64	6 200	7 059	13 259	2,69
65-69	5 148	5 454	10 602	2,15
70-74	4 103	4 556	8 659	1,76
75-79	2 419	2 733	5 152	1,05
80-84	1 235	1 618	2 853	0,58
85-89	392	677	1 075	0,22
90-94	196	294	490	0,10
95+	34	95	129	0,03
unknown	2 885	1 819	4 704	0,95

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	74 341	72 048	146 389	29,70
15-64	157 293	155 489	312 782	63,47
65+	13 527	15 427	28 954	5,88

Structure of the population (01.07.2011) (Estimates) :

Age Group	Male	Female	Total	%
Total	272 690	267 220	539 910	100
0-4	24 910	24 150	49 060	9,09
5-9	26 400	25 160	51 560	9,55
10-14	25 950	24 850	50 800	9,41
15-19	24 510	23 670	48 180	8,92
20-24	23 270	22 500	45 770	8,48
25-29	22 310	21 360	43 670	8,09
30-34	21 180	20 150	41 330	7,65
35-39	20 130	19 110	39 240	7,27
40-44	18 570	17 720	36 290	6,72
45-49	16 370	15 830	32 200	5,96
50-54	13 940	13 730	27 670	5,12
55-59	10 970	11 200	22 170	4,11
60-64	8 340	8 890	17 230	3,19
65-69	6 200	6 870	13 070	2,42
70-74	4 360	5 060	9 420	1,74
75-79	2 860	3 500	6 360	1,18
80+	2 420	3 470	5 890	1,09

Age group	Male	Female	Total	Percent
0-14	77 260	72 048	149 308	27,65
15-64	179 590	176 272	355 862	65,91
65+	15 840	18 900	34 740	6,43

Vital statistics

The Population Departement of the United Nations prepared the following estimates for Suriname.

Period	Live births per year	Deaths per year	Natural change per year	CBR*	CDR*	NC*	TFR*	IMR*	Life expectancy total	Life expectancy males	Life expectancy females
1950-1955	10 000	3 000	7 000	48.0	14.9	33.1	6.56	89	56.0	54.4	57.7
1955-1960	12 000	3 000	9 000	46.0	12.4	33.6	6.56	76	58.7	57.0	60.5
1960-1965	14 000	3 000	11 000	44.8	10.6	34.2	6.56	64	60.5	58.7	62.5
1965-1970	14 000	3 000	11 000	39.7	9.0	30.6	5.95	55	62.4	60.5	64.5
1970-1975	13 000	3 000	10 000	34.9	8.3	26.6	5.29	49	64.0	61.7	66.5
1975-1980	11 000	3 000	8 000	30.2	7.4	22.8	4.20	44	65.1	62.8	67.7
1980-1985	11 000	3 000	8 000	30.0	7.3	22.7	3.70	42	66.5	63.6	69.8
1985-1990	10 000	3 000	7 000	25.4	7.2	18.2	3.00	39	67.1	64.0	70.7
1990-1995	9 000	3 000	6 000	22.5	7.1	15.4	2.60	34	67.6	64.4	71.1
1995-2000	11 000	3 000	8 000	23.6	7.4	16.2	2.80	29	67.8	64.6	71.4
2000-2005	10 000	4 000	6 000	21.0	7.6	13.4	2.60	24	68.1	64.8	71.7
2005-2010	10 000	4 000	6 000	19.1	7.3	11.9	2.42	22	69.6	66.4	73.1
* CBR = crude birth rate (per 1000); CDR = crude death rate (per 1000); NC = natural change (per 1000); IMR = infant mortality rate per 1000 births; TFR = total fertility rate (number of children per woman)

Births and deaths

Year	Population (x1000)	Live births	Deaths	Natural increase	Crude birth rate	Crude death rate	Rate of natural increase	TFR
2009		9 792	3 293	6 499	18,7	6,3	12,4

Ethnic groups

Population of Surinam according to ethnic group

Ethnic group	Census 1921		Census 1950		Census 1964		Census 1972		Census 1980		Census 2004		Census 2012
	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%	Number	%
Amerindian			-	-	7,287	2.2	-	-			18,037	3.7	-	-
East Indian			62,280	31.3	112,633	34.7	142,917	37.6			135,117	27.4	148,443	27.4
Maroons			19,180	9.7	27,698	8.5	35,838	9.4			72,553	14.7	117,567	21.7
Creole			71,657	36.1	114,961	35.5	119,009	31.4			87,202	17.7	84,933	15.7
Javanese			35,270	17.8	48,463	14.9	57,688	15.2			71,879	14.6	73,975	13.7
Mixed			0	0.0	0	0.0	0	0.0			61,524	12.5	72,340	13.4
Chinese			-	-	5,339	1.6	-	-			8,775	1.8	-	-
White			-	-	4,322	1.3	-	-			2,264	0.5	-	-
Other			10,095	5.1	2,986	0.9	24,155	6.4			2,264	0.5	40,985	7.6
Unknown			186	0.1	522	0.2	0	0.0			32,579	6.6	3,395	0.6
Total	107,723		198,668		324,211		379,607		355,240		492,829		541,638

• The census used self-identification for ethnic classification.
• Amerindians are the original inhabitants of Suriname.
• East Indians, also known locally as Hindustanis, are those whose ancestors emigrated from northern British India in the latter part of the 19th century.
• Creoles are descendants from slaves from Africa. Prior to the 2004 census, mixed-race people were counted as Creoles. Their ancestors were brought to the country in the 17th and 18th centuries.
• The Maroon are descendants from slaves from Africa that escaped to the interior of Suriname. Their proportion has increased considerably during the past decades, from 9% in 1964 to 22% in 2012. Part of this increase is probably caused by interchanging identities of Creole and Maroon, causing a decrease in the proportion of Creole and an increase in the proportion Maroon.
• The Javanese are Asians from formerly Dutch-ruled Indonesia.
• Whites are principally descended from Dutch colonists.

The current population of Suriname will be different to these census figures, as the census records residents, and notes legal visitors, but does not record illegal immigrants. According to estimates there may be as many as:

• 60,000 Brazilian (estimates varies between 20,000 and 80,000) from Brazil. There are also other smaller numbers of South American nationalities.
• 40,000 Chinese, with quite small communities of Koreans, Japanese and Filipinos.
• 2,000 Arab/Middle-eastern (mostly Lebanese but also Syrian and Palestinians).
• 200 Jews who are identified in ethnoreligious terms.

Languages

Dutch (official), Sranan Tongo (Surinamese Creole, sometimes called Taki-Taki, is native language of Creoles and much of the younger population), Hindustani (Hindi-Urdu), Javanese, English (widely spoken), French due to cultural influence from French Guiana, Portuguese and Spanish. Chinese languages are spoken as well.

Religion

The 2012 census reported: Christian 48.4%, Hindu 22.3%, Muslim 13.9%, other 15.5%.