Market research in Suriname: how to size your market

Start with what already exists: population and price data from the ABS statistics bureau, import figures per product, the KKF company register and free tools such as ITC Trade Map. Then go out yourself: count customers at competitors, record prices and interview enough people. Size your market top-down and check it bottom-up.

On this page (13)

• Start with the decision, not the data
• Official statistics from the ABS
• Economic data: Central Bank and international sources
• Free trade data and export tools
• Import figures as a measure of demand
• Researching prices
• Mapping companies and competitors
• Doing your own research: surveys and interviews
• Worked example: a neighbourhood bakery in Wanica
• Market research checklist
• What if...
• Sources
• Frequently asked questions

Start with the decision, not the data

Market research is not a goal in itself. First write down which decision you need to make and which questions must be answered for it. For example: do I open a bakery in Lelydorp or in north Paramaribo? How many loaves can I sell there per day, at what price, and who are the competitors? With concrete questions like these you know which data you need and when you know enough.

Work in two rounds. First desk research: figures others have already collected (this mostly costs time). Then field research: what you see, count and ask yourself. In Suriname the second is often more important, because official figures are old or too coarse. The overviews of sectors and districts help you choose where to look: Sectors and opportunities and Business by district.

Official statistics from the ABS

The General Bureau of Statistics (ABS) is the main source. Many publications are on its website as PDF or Excel; if something is not online, e-mail or call its Public Relations and Information department. The ABS does not release data on individual people or companies: if a branch is too small (fewer than three players, or one player with 95% or more of the market), you will not get the figures.

Source	What you get from it	Watch out
2012 census (8th census), also via Redatam	Population, households, age, education, work, housing per district and ressort	Fourteen years old. Census 9 results not yet published (26 October 2026)
Key figures and basic indicators	Population, economy, prices, trade in one overview	Check the year of each figure
Consumer price index (CPI)	Monthly price trends per group (food, transport, housing), 316 items, about 630 price points in Paramaribo, Wanica and five other districts	An index, not a shelf price. Use it to index your prices and costs
Household budget survey 2013/2014	What households spend their money on, incomes, the consumer basket	Old: useful for shares, not for SRD amounts
Household survey (labour force)	Employment and unemployment, mainly Paramaribo and Wanica	Limited geographic coverage
Trade statistics	Imports and exports per HS code and country, from customs data (ASYCUDA World)	Small branches are suppressed
Business statistics and construction prices	Turnover, wages and employment per sector (firms with 10 or more staff); wages and material prices in construction	Small and informal businesses are largely missing
Poverty lines (August 2026)	Amount per adult per month for basic food and living costs	Gives an idea of purchasing power at the bottom of the market

The census: where do things stand?

The eighth census (2012) counted 541,638 people, 240,924 of them in Paramaribo and 118,222 in Wanica. The ABS started mapping all buildings for Census 9 in January 2024, ran a pilot count in August 2024 and was still in the field in 2025, with a post-enumeration survey from late 2025. On 26 October 2026 the ABS website still only showed the 2004 and 2012 results. Until Census 9 appears, use 2012 for the split across districts and ressorts and scale up with the World Bank estimate (about 640,000 in 2025). Figures per district are in Business by district.

Economic data: Central Bank and international sources

• Central Bank of Suriname (CBvS): exchange rates, inflation, interest rates, monetary data, the balance of payments and the Economic Bulletin. Useful for planning revenue and costs in SRD and USD. Our summary: Economy in figures; daily rates: Exchange rates today.
• IMF and World Bank: growth forecasts, population estimates and sector reports. The World Bank report Suriname Jobs and Skills Radar 2030 (July 2026) names oil and gas, tourism and agribusiness as growth sectors.
• Sector sources: the Ministry of Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Fisheries (LVV) for farming and fishing, the Suriname Tourism Foundation for visitor numbers, Staatsolie for oil and gas, the SBB for timber. See also Starting an agribusiness and Starting a tourism business.

Free trade data and export tools

For importers and exporters the free tools of the International Trade Centre (ITC, a joint agency of the UN and WTO) are the most useful. You need your product's HS code; look it up in the customs tariff or ask your freight forwarder.

Tool	What for	Tip
ITC Trade Map	Imports and exports per product and country, per year and sometimes per month, with mirror data	Register for free. Look at what countries ship to Suriname when Surinamese figures are missing
ITC Export Potential Map	Which products and markets have the most untapped export potential	A good starting point for an export plan
ITC Market Access Map	Import duties and trade measures per country and product	Compare with EPA and CARICOM rates
ITC Sustainability Map	Labels and sustainability standards buyers ask for	Useful for cocoa, coffee, timber, fish
UN Comtrade	Official trade data of all countries	Rougher interface, but free downloads
EU Access2Markets	EU import duties, rules of origin, product requirements and EU trade statistics	See also EU rules for Surinamese suppliers
CARICOM statistics	Regional trade and economic data, census reports of member states	For exports to the region, see Trade agreements and market access

The regional Market Intelligence Portal that Caribbean Export once set up with EU funding for CARIFORUM exporters, and the national trade information network linked to it, could no longer be found as a working website in October 2026. So use the ITC tools above. Exporting step by step: Exporting from Suriname; markets by country: Doing business by country.

Import figures as a measure of demand

Suriname imports much of what it consumes. That makes import figures often the best indicator of a market's size. Here is how:

1. Find the HS code of your product (the first 6 digits are the same worldwide).
2. Pull the imports for the last three to five years, in value and quantity, from Trade Map, UN Comtrade or the ABS.
3. Add local production if there is any (from LVV, trade associations or by calling producers) and subtract exports.
4. Calculate per person: divide by about 640,000. Compare with neighbouring countries or the Caribbean average: if Suriname is much lower, there may be room, or a reason why it does not sell.
5. Look at the trend and the suppliers. Are imports growing? From which countries, and at what price per kilo or per unit? That tells you the price level you need to beat.

Watch out for three traps. Informal trade with Guyana and French Guiana does not show in the figures. Re-exports (for example to the interior or neighbouring countries) inflate imports. And large one-off projects, such as oil and gas investments, cause peaks that say nothing about consumer demand. What importing costs if you do it yourself: Import cost calculator and Importing goods.

Researching prices

• Maximum prices: the Ministry of Economic Affairs (EZOTI) publishes the maximum prices of basic goods per importer about every two weeks. Searchable at Maximum prices of basic goods. If you sell such a product, that is your ceiling; see also Price rules for shops.
• Your own price round: visit at least five outlets (supermarket, Chinese shop, market, online seller) on two or three different days and record price, pack size, brand and any discount. Repeat after an exchange rate change.
• Markets: for fresh produce, the Central Market and district markets are where you see wholesale and retail prices. Ask sellers about seasonal swings.
• Online: Facebook Marketplace, WhatsApp statuses and web shops show what private sellers and small businesses charge.
• Your own price: work out cost price and margin with Price and markup and see at what revenue you break even with Break-even calculator.

Mapping companies and competitors

The KKF trade register shows which companies are registered and for which activities. You request an extract for a specific company through the KKF E-Services. Our Business directory gives a free overview per town and category, and businesses can Add your business themselves. Tenders show what government and large companies buy: Tenders.

Make a short card for each serious competitor. Visit in person, on a busy and a quiet day, and count customers per hour. That tells you more than any statistic.

What	Competitor A	Competitor B	You
Location and access	Main road, parking in front	Side street, no parking	?
Range and price	Wide, mid-price	Narrow, cheap	?
Opening hours	07:00 to 19:00	06:00 to 13:00	?
Customers per hour (peak)	Count yourself	Count yourself	Target
Payment options	Cash, debit card	Cash only	?
Online presence	Facebook, active	Not online	?

Doing your own research: surveys and interviews

How many people should you ask?

The rule of thumb at 95% confidence and an unknown outcome (the safest assumption of 50%) is: sample = 1.96² × 0.25 / margin². That gives:

Desired margin of error	Respondents needed	When
± 5%	about 385	If you base an investment or a loan on it
± 7%	about 196	A fair picture for a small start
± 10%	about 97	First exploration

If your target group is small, for example 2,000 households in one ressort, you need fewer: about 323 for ± 5%. If you want conclusions about subgroups (young and old, Paramaribo and Nickerie), you need roughly that number per subgroup.

How do you pick the people?

• Street interviews: stand at different places, days and times, and approach every nth passer-by rather than whoever looks friendly. Keep it under five minutes.
• Door to door in your catchment area gives the best picture of a neighbourhood market, but takes time. Use a fixed pattern, for example every fifth house.
• WhatsApp and Facebook polls are quick and free, but only your own network answers: often younger, online, and well-disposed towards you. Use them to test ideas, not to measure the market.
• Talks with insiders: suppliers, wholesalers, drivers and market vendors often know exactly what sells. Five good conversations yield more than fifty poor surveys.

Good questions

• Ask about past behaviour, not plans: "How often did you buy bread last week, and where?" instead of "Would you buy from me?"
• One topic per question, short answer options, and always "other" and "don't know".
• Test the questionnaire on five people first. Ask in Dutch and, where needed, in Sranan or another language spoken in the area.
• Ask for no more personal data than needed, say what you use it for and store it safely. A personal data protection bill is before parliament; see New laws and rules.

Worked example: a neighbourhood bakery in Wanica

Suppose you want to open a bakery in a ressort in Wanica. The example below shows the method. The assumptions are fictional: replace them with your own figures from the census, your survey and your counts.

Step	Source	Calculation	Result
1. Residents in your catchment area (2012)	ABS 2012 census per ressort (Redatam)	Assumption: 20,000	20,000
2. Scale up to today	World Bank 640,000 / census 541,638	20,000 × 1.18	about 23,600
3. Households	Average household size from the census for your ressort	Assumption: 23,600 / 3.5	about 6,700
4. Demand per day	Your survey: share buying bread daily, and how much	Assumption: 70% buy 1 loaf a day	about 4,700 loaves a day
5. Achievable market share	Competitor map: 4 bakeries and 3 supermarkets in the area	Assumption: 8% in year 1	about 375 loaves a day
6. Bottom-up check	Counts at competitors during the morning peak	For example 60 customers an hour × 1.5 loaves × 4 hours	360 a day: consistent with step 5

Multiply the number of loaves by your own average selling price (from your price round) and 30 days for monthly revenue, and set your costs against it in Break-even calculator and Cash flow planner. If steps 5 and 6 are far apart, find out why before you invest. Include flour and energy prices as risks: flour depends on imported wheat and so on the dollar rate, and a power cut costs you a baking day; see EBS power outages and Power, water and internet.

Paramaribo and Wanica together had 359,146 residents in 2012, 66% of the country. Wanica grew 37.5% between 2004 and 2012, faster than the national average; the scaling factor of 1.18 is therefore more likely too low than too high for Wanica.

Market research checklist

• Decision and research questions written down
• Target group and catchment area defined (district, ressort, or country for exports)
• Population from the 2012 census, scaled up with a clear factor and source
• HS code found; imports and exports for the last 3 to 5 years collected
• Price round at at least 5 outlets, with dates
• Competitors mapped, with counts on a busy and a quiet day
• Survey tested, sample large enough and randomly chosen
• Talks with at least 3 suppliers or wholesalers
• Market size top-down and bottom-up, and the difference explained
• Every source with a date in your business plan; weak figures marked as assumptions

What if...

• ...there are no figures for my product? Look for a comparable product or related spending (for example imports of packaging or raw materials) and work bottom-up with counts and interviews.
• ...the ABS will not release figures because the branch is too small? Use mirror data in Trade Map: what supplier countries export to Suriname. Or call the importers yourself.
• ...Census 9 results come out when my plan is finished? Update the population figures and see whether your conclusion changes. Banks appreciate it when you show you use the latest figures.
• ...I want to export but do not know the foreign market? Start with Export Potential Map and Trade Map, talk to a trade attaché or an embassy and visit a trade fair; see Business events and Doing business by country.
• ...I want to hire a research firm? Ask for the questionnaire, the sampling method and the raw results, not just a report. See Business associations for trade associations that sometimes already have sector research.

Sources

• General Bureau of Statistics (ABS)
• ABS: census, 2004 and 2012 results and Census 9
• GOV.SR: ABS fieldwork in preparation for the 9th census (2024)
• ABS: consumer price index metadata
• ABS: trade statistics and disclosure policy
• ABS: household surveys
• ABS: business statistics
• Central Bank of Suriname
• World Bank: Suriname data
• ITC Trade Map, ITC Export Potential Map, ITC Market Access Map, ITC Sustainability Map
• UN Comtrade
• European Commission: Access2Markets
• CARICOM: Regional Statistics Programme
• KKF: E-Services and trade register
• Devdiscourse on the World Bank report Suriname Jobs and Skills Radar 2030 (July 2026)

Checked on 26 October 2026. The worked example uses fictional assumptions to show the method. Update the population figures as soon as the ABS publishes the Census 9 results.