Population
13.8M
Unitary Presidential system
GDP per capita, PPP
$6,989
in 2031
Passport power
#141
34 visa-free destinations
Cities rated
9
Top: Cotonou
Country overview
- Official name
- Republic of Benin
- Capital
- Porto-Novo
- Continent
- Africa / Western Africa
- Area
- 114,763 km²
- Population
- 13.8M
- Density
- 94.8/km²
- Government
- Unitary Presidential system
- UN member
- Yes
- Independent
- Yes
- Driving side
- Right
- TLD
- .bj
- Calling code
- +229
- Timezone
- UTC+01:00
Visa and travel
- Passport power rank
- #141 of 199
- Visa-free destinations
- 34
- Total accessible
- 59
Culture and society
- Languages
- French (français)
- Religions
- Christianity 52.2%, Islam 24.6%, Traditional faiths 17.9%, No religion 5.2%
- Currencies
- Fr XOF — West African CFA franc
Key figures
- HDI
- 0.515
- GDP per capita (2031)
- $6,989
- Life expectancy (2024)
- 61.0 yrs
- Internet users (2024)
- 34.0%
- Gini index (2021)
- 34.4
- Inflation (2031)
- 2.0%
- Unemployment (2025)
- 1.6%
- Urban population (2025)
- 53.4%
- Life satisfaction (2025)
- 4.4/10
- PM2.5 (2024)
- 35.3 µg/m³
- Homicide rate (2017)
- 1.1/100k
- Human capital (2020)
- 0.40