Benin

Benin: steady but modest growth, 1980–2024

A small West African economy built on cotton exports and re-export trade with neighboring Nigeria through the port of Cotonou, Benin has grown steadily, though shifts in Nigerian trade policy have repeatedly jolted it. Between 1980 and 2024, Benin's GDP per capita grew from $358 to $1,485 (current US$), a compound annual growth rate of 3.3% — steady but modest growth. Annual GDP growth averaged 4.5% with a year-to-year standard deviation of 2.8 points, reflecting relatively stable macroeconomic conditions. Structurally, agriculture's share of the economy moved from 35.4% to 24.2% of GDP (a classic decline as the economy industrialized/modernized), while services rose from 52.3% to 48.9% of GDP, a comparatively unusual pattern for this period. On human development, life expectancy rose from 47.7 to 61.0 years, while tertiary school enrollment moved from 1.0% to 10.2%, while the urban population share grew from 27.3% to 52.5%.

What this growth cost: Growth was not without cost: per-capita CO2 emissions rose from 0.14 to 0.49 tonnes CO2e per person; income inequality (Gini index) narrowed from 38.6 to 34.4; the poverty headcount ratio fell from 70.5% to 27.2%.