Benin’s recent economic profile combines strong output growth with difficult labor-market conditions and persistent development challenges. The World Bank reports 7.5% GDP growth in 2024, while the IMF’s Country Report No. 24/338 projected 6.4% real GDP growth for that year. At the same time, the World Bank reports 72% underemployment and a 90.1% informal-sector employment share in 2024. These statistics describe different dimensions of the economy, so dates, definitions, and source labels matter.
Contents
- Economic growth and inflation
- Public debt and fiscal position
- Population and human development
- Employment, poverty, and household conditions
- Social protection and inclusion programs
- Agriculture, infrastructure, and economic geography
- What the indicators show together
Economic growth and inflation
Benin’s growth record from 2019 through 2023 shows a sharp pandemic-era slowdown followed by a strong rebound. The IMF reported real GDP growth of 6.9% in 2019, 3.8% in 2020, 7.2% in 2021, 6.3% in 2022, and 5.6% in 2023. This sequence places the 2020 result well below the surrounding years, while the 2021 result was the strongest among the historical figures listed by the IMF.
The IMF’s projections in Country Report No. 24/338 were 6.4% real GDP growth for 2024, 6.0% for 2025, and 6.5% for 2026. These are projections in that report, not measurements that should be presented as later observed outcomes. The World Bank country page separately reports that GDP grew by 7.5% in 2024 and that growth reached 8% over the first three quarters of 2025. Because the sources use different reporting frameworks and periods, the figures should be read as source-specific measures rather than combined into one series.
| Indicator | Figure | Period or status | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Real GDP growth | 6.9% | 2019 | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 3.8% | 2020 | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 7.2% | 2021 | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 6.3% | 2022 | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 5.6% | 2023 | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 6.4% | 2024 projection | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 6.0% | 2025 projection | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
| Real GDP growth | 6.5% | 2026 projection | IMF Country Report No. 24/338 |
Inflation was comparatively contained in the IMF series. The consumer price index average was 1.7% in 2019, 1.4% in 2020, 3.7% in 2021, 2.7% in 2022, and 3.0% in 2023. The IMF projected a 2.0% consumer price index average for 2024. The World Bank country page reports headline inflation of 1.2% in 2024 and 1.1% in 2025, alongside food inflation of 3.4% in 2025. Headline and food inflation are distinct measures, and the World Bank figures should not be substituted for the IMF’s annual-average CPI series.
Public debt and fiscal position
The IMF reported total public debt at 41.2% of GDP in 2019 and projected it at 54.5% of GDP in 2024. The second number is a projection from Country Report No. 24/338, so it is best treated as the report’s forward-looking estimate. Comparing the two percentages indicates a higher projected debt burden in 2024, but the supplied figures do not provide a complete annual debt series or explain the intervening changes.
The World Bank country page reports that Benin’s fiscal deficit reached the West African Economic and Monetary Union, or WAEMU, target of 3% of GDP in 2025. This is a fiscal-deficit measure, not a debt measure. A deficit describes the balance for a period, while public debt describes accumulated obligations relative to GDP. Keeping those concepts separate is essential when reading Benin economy statistics.
The World Bank Group’s reported commitments in Benin stood at $3.3 billion. The portfolio included $3.0 billion for 16 national projects and $300 million for seven regional projects. Those amounts describe commitments and portfolio composition; they are not presented here as annual government spending, GDP, or realized disbursements.
Population and human development
The World Bank country page reports Benin’s population at 14,462,724 in 2024. It also reports a fertility rate of 5.7 births per woman in 2024 and life expectancy at birth of 61.2 years in the same year. Together, these figures provide demographic context for economic planning: the population figure describes scale, fertility indicates the number of births per woman, and life expectancy summarizes longevity at birth.
The Human Development Index, or HDI, rose to 0.515 in 2023, compared with 0.351 in 1990, according to the World Bank country page. The same source reports that the HDI increased by 46.7% between 1990 and 2023. It also reports a 7.8-year increase in life expectancy at birth over that period, a 5.6-year increase in expected duration of schooling, and a 1.7-year increase in average duration of schooling.
The World Bank further reports that gross national income per capita increased by about 70.9% between 1990 and 2023. This is a long-run change in an income-per-person measure, not the same thing as GDP growth in a single year. The time span also differs from the 2024 population, inflation, and labor-market figures, so these indicators should be retained in their stated periods.
Employment, poverty, and household conditions
The labor-market figures show why a low unemployment rate does not by itself describe the quality or security of work. The World Bank country page reports unemployment of 2.4% in 2024, but underemployment of 72% and an informal-sector employment share of 90.1% in that year. These three indicators measure different conditions. Unemployment concerns people without work who are counted under the relevant definition; underemployment captures insufficient or inadequate work; and the informal-sector share describes the employment structure.
The World Bank reports a national poverty rate of 36.2% for 2021–2022. This period is earlier than the 2024 employment and demographic observations, so it should not be described as a current 2024 poverty rate. It remains an important benchmark for interpreting the scale of social programs and the economic circumstances of households.
The combination of 2.4% unemployment, 72% underemployment, and 90.1% informal employment indicates that the headline unemployment figure must be read alongside broader labor indicators. The supplied statistics do not quantify earnings, hours, or productivity, so no additional conclusion about household income or job quality can be calculated from them.
Social protection and inclusion programs
The World Bank country page reports that a social safety net program aimed to reach at least 150,000 people. Those 150,000 people represented 61% of the extremely poor households in the Single Social Register. The figures identify both the program’s target and its reported coverage share within that register, while the 36.2% national poverty rate above refers to a different measure and period.
The Azoli youth inclusion program had already benefited 49,900 young people, according to the World Bank. Women accounted for 44% of Azoli beneficiaries. The beneficiary total and the women’s share are program-specific figures; they should not be generalized to all young people or to women’s participation in Benin’s entire labor market.
The World Bank also reports that the WURI identification program had issued free identification certificates to nearly 6 million people. This is an administrative inclusion output rather than a population estimate. It can be read alongside the 14,462,724 population figure for scale, but the supplied data do not state the exact issuance date, whether certificates were unique to individuals, or how coverage was distributed geographically.
Agriculture, infrastructure, and economic geography
Agriculture is represented in the supplied figures by PACOFIDE, which the World Bank describes as a $160 million agricultural competitiveness project. An additional $150 million in financing was approved for PACOFIDE in June 2024. That additional financing targeted 3,000 hectares for irrigated rice and vegetable production in northern Benin.
The project figures identify a major agricultural investment and a specific production target. They do not establish the value of agricultural output, the number of farms involved, or the eventual area brought under irrigation. Keeping those distinctions clear prevents project financing from being mistaken for sector-wide production or income.
The World Bank country page reports that Benin’s coastline is 121 kilometers long. This is a geographic fact rather than an economic output measure, but it provides context for a country with a defined coastal zone and regional project portfolio. The supplied data do not quantify ports, trade volumes, tourism receipts, or transport activity, so those topics are not estimated here.
What the indicators show together
The available statistics describe an economy with rapid recent growth, modest reported inflation, and a fiscal position that the World Bank says reached the WAEMU deficit target in 2025. The IMF series records real GDP growth of 7.2% in 2021, 6.3% in 2022, and 5.6% in 2023, while its report projected 6.4% in 2024, 6.0% in 2025, and 6.5% in 2026. The World Bank separately reports 7.5% GDP growth in 2024 and 8% growth over the first three quarters of 2025.
The social and labor data add important qualifications to that growth picture. A 2.4% unemployment rate coexisted with 72% underemployment and 90.1% informal-sector employment in 2024. Poverty was reported at 36.2% in 2021–2022, while long-run development indicators improved between 1990 and 2023: HDI rose from 0.351 to 0.515, life expectancy increased by 7.8 years, expected schooling by 5.6 years, average schooling by 1.7 years, and gross national income per capita by about 70.9%.
The World Bank also reports policy and investment activity at several scales: $3.3 billion in commitments, a $160 million PACOFIDE project plus $150 million in additional financing, a safety-net target of at least 150,000 people, 49,900 Azoli beneficiaries, and nearly 6 million free WURI identification certificates. These figures help organize the economic story around growth, inclusion, human development, and productive investment without treating any single statistic as a complete measure of Benin’s economy.