Benin’s healthcare picture combines a population of 14,462,724 in 2024 with a life expectancy at birth of 61 years. The country’s indicators show progress in selected services alongside substantial maternal, newborn, child-health, nutrition, and access challenges. The figures below retain each source’s measurement year and geography.
Contents
- Population and health spending
- Mortality and survival
- Maternal and newborn health
- Child health, immunization, and nutrition
- Prevention and treatment access
- Health workforce and emergency services
- Social conditions affecting health
Population and health spending
The World Bank’s Benin profile records a population of 14,462,724 in 2024 and population growth of 2.5% that year. The same profile reports life expectancy at birth of 61 years in 2024. These are national indicators and should not be confused with older survey snapshots.
The WHO country profile gives a population of 14,111,034 in 2023. It also reports current health expenditure at 2.58% of GDP in 2021. Because these figures come from different years and source series, they describe the country at separate points in time rather than a single synchronized estimate.
Earlier UNICEF material on maternal and newborn health disparities reports a total population of 11,176 thousand in 2017, alongside 410 thousand total live births. The same 2017 source reports a total fertility rate of 5 children per woman. Together, the figures indicate the scale of demand placed on maternal, newborn, and child-health services, while keeping the historical measurement period explicit.
Mortality and survival
The UNICEF Benin health page reports an under-five mortality rate of 74.7 deaths per 1,000 live births and 35,304 under-five deaths. It also reports infant mortality of 45 deaths per 1,000 live births and neonatal mortality of 27 deaths per 1,000 live births. By sex, the under-five mortality rate was 69 deaths per 1,000 live births for girls and 80 for boys.
The UNICEF SDG country brief reports different historical values: an under-five mortality rate of 84 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 and neonatal mortality of 29 deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021. These values should be read as the brief’s 2021 indicators, not substituted for the separate UNICEF health-page figures.
The UNICEF maternal and newborn health disparities source reports an under-five mortality rate of 98 per 1,000 live births in 2016. Newborns accounted for 33% of under-five deaths in 2016, and the neonatal mortality rate was 31 per 1,000 live births. That source records 13 thousand neonatal deaths in 2016.
The historical series also reports a stillbirth rate of 30 per 1,000 total births in 2015 and a preterm birth rate of 11 per 100 live births in 2015. These measures concern different outcomes and denominators: stillbirths are measured against total births, while preterm birth is expressed per 100 live births.
Maternal and newborn health
The UNICEF SDG country brief reports a maternal mortality ratio of 523 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2020. It records births attended by skilled health personnel at 78% in 2018. These are national indicators with different measurement years, so the attendance percentage does not represent the 2020 maternal mortality estimate.
The older UNICEF disparities source reports a maternal mortality ratio of 405 per 100,000 live births in 2015. It gives an average annual rate of maternal mortality reduction of 2% between 2000 and 2015 and a lifetime risk of maternal death of 1 in 51 in 2015. The historical source also reports an adolescent birth rate of 98 per 1,000 women aged 15–19 in 2009.
The UNICEF Benin health page reports that pregnant women living with HIV who received effective antiretroviral medicines for prevention of mother-to-child transmission represented 90%. It reports a C-section rate of 6%, early initiation of breastfeeding at 25%, and exclusive breastfeeding for infants aged 0–5 months at 45%.
These measures cover different points along the care pathway: HIV prevention during pregnancy, delivery by cesarean section, breastfeeding soon after birth, and exclusive breastfeeding during early infancy. They should not be combined into a single coverage rate.
Child health, immunization, and nutrition
The UNICEF SDG country brief reports that 30% of children under 5 were stunted in 2022. Wasting among children under 5 was 5% in 2018, while overweight among children under 5 was 2% in 2022. The different years matter, particularly when nutrition conditions can change across surveys.
The same brief reports measles-containing-vaccine first-dose coverage of 68% among surviving infants in 2022. DTP3 coverage among surviving infants was 76% in 2022. The UNICEF Benin health page separately reports third-dose DTP coverage among surviving infants at 63%, without the same year attached in the supplied source label. It is therefore best treated as a separate source-reported measure rather than merged with the 2022 figure.
The UNICEF health page reports insecticide-treated-net use by children under 5 at 50% and households with at least one insecticide-treated net at 58%. The first statistic concerns children’s use; the second concerns household possession. They measure related but different forms of malaria-prevention access.
The page also reports care seeking for acute respiratory infection symptoms at 35% and diarrhea treatment with oral rehydration salts at 15%. These percentages describe selected care or treatment behaviors, not the prevalence of respiratory infection or diarrhea across the population.
Prevention and treatment access
Birth registration among children under age 5 stood at 93% on the UNICEF Benin health page. In contrast, the same page reports adjusted net attendance of 48% one year before primary-entry age, 68% for children of primary-school age, 30% for lower-secondary-school-age adolescents, and 12% for upper-secondary-school-age youth. These education measures are relevant social conditions for health but are not healthcare-service coverage rates.
The page reports primary-school completion at 48% and youth literacy at 61% for ages 15–24. It also reports that 28% of women aged 20–24 were married or in union before age 18. These indicators provide context for health literacy, adolescent health, and access to services, but the figures do not establish causal relationships.
For protection and wellbeing, the UNICEF page reports that 20% of children aged 5–17 were engaged in child labour. It reports physical punishment or psychological aggression affecting 88% of children aged 1–14. Among women aged 15–49, 29% said wife-beating was justified for at least one reason. Girls and women aged 15–49 who had undergone female genital mutilation represented 9%.
Health workforce and emergency services
The UNICEF maternal and newborn health disparities source reports skilled health professional density of 8 per 10,000 population in 2013. It reports physician density of 0.1 per 1,000 population and nurse-and-midwife density of 0.6 per 1,000 population in 2013. The denominators differ, so the density figures should be retained in their published units rather than compared as if they used one common scale.
The same source reports emergency obstetric and newborn care service availability at 39% of the minimum acceptable level in 2016. This is a service-availability measure, not a percentage of births receiving emergency care. It points to a gap between the minimum acceptable service level and the availability recorded in that historical assessment.
A compact view of selected indicators shows why year and definition are essential when reading Benin healthcare statistics:
| Indicator | Value | Measurement period | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| Life expectancy at birth | 61 years | 2024 | World Bank Benin profile |
| Population | 14,462,724 | 2024 | World Bank Benin profile |
| Current health expenditure | 2.58% of GDP | 2021 | WHO country profile |
| Maternal mortality ratio | 523 per 100,000 live births | 2020 | UNICEF SDG country brief for Benin |
| Under-five mortality | 84 per 1,000 live births | 2021 | UNICEF SDG country brief for Benin |
| Skilled birth attendance | 78% | 2018 | UNICEF SDG country brief for Benin |
Social conditions affecting health
The UNICEF indicators show a wide range of conditions surrounding health in Benin. Birth registration is reported at 93% for children under 5, while only 12% of upper-secondary-school-age youth had adjusted net attendance. Youth literacy for ages 15–24 was 61%, and primary-school completion was 48%.
Early marriage, child labour, and violence indicators add further context. The share of women aged 20–24 married or in union before age 18 was 28%. Child labour affected 20% of children aged 5–17. Physical punishment or psychological aggression affected 88% of children aged 1–14, and 29% of women aged 15–49 considered wife-beating justified for at least one reason.
The health-related indicators also include 9% of girls and women aged 15–49 having undergone female genital mutilation. Read alongside the 45% exclusive-breastfeeding figure, 25% early breastfeeding initiation, and 30% stunting rate in 2022, these measures describe distinct stages and determinants of wellbeing. They should remain separate statistics, with their original populations and periods preserved.