Demographics & population — Benin
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Benin: 12,864,634
Immigration rules and fees change frequently — confirm current requirements on official government or embassy websites.
Population overview
- Population
12,864,634
- Population - note
Note: estimates for this country explicitly take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of the population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected
- Population Growth Rate
2.84%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
COTONOU (seat of government) 924,000; PORTO-NOVO (capital) 314,000
Age & family
- Age Structure
- Median Age
- Birth Rate - births/1,000 population
37
- Death Rate - deaths/1,000 population
8.59
- Total Fertility Rate - children born/woman
5.13
- Contraceptive Prevalance Rate - female 12-49
12.9%
- Contraceptive Prevalence Rate - female 12-49
12.9%
- Mean Age for Mother's First Birth (age 25-49)
20
- Mother's mean age at first birth
20
- Sex Ratio at Birth - male/female
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
African 99% (42 ethnic groups, most important being Fon, Adja, Yoruba, Bariba), Europeans 5,500
- Nationality Noun
Beninese (singular and plural)
Education
- Literacy - total population
34.7%
- Literacy - male
46.4%
- Literacy - female
22.6%
- Literacy Definition
Age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
5.3%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
350
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
.06
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
.5
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
4.6%
- Major Infectious Diseases - degree of risk
Very high
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
6%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
20.2%
