BEN · Africa
Benin
Benin, officially the Republic of Benin, formerly known as Dahomey, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Togo to the west, Nigeria to the east, Burkina Faso to the northwest, and Niger to the northeast.
Summary from Wikipédia (CC BY-SA 4.0)
Data refreshed on 2026.10.08 · source: Wikidata
Points to watch 2026.10.09
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Alert
Spike in global attention: Wikipedia views ×6.4 the usual level. Wikimedia · 2026.10.07
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Context
New head of state since 2026.05.24: Romuald Wadagni, replacing Patrice Talon. Wikidata
Drawn automatically from the file's layers, sources shown; no hand-written text. JSON
The Institute's composite reading
Vigilance
4.4 /10 risk
- Security 0.0
- Legitimacy 5.1
- Economy 8.0
- Diplomacy 5.0
- Influence 0.0
Security: 0 stable → 10 unstable · others: 0 weak → 10 strong. Computed from V-Dem, FH, CPI, RSF, World Bank, SIPRI, sanctions.
Listings linked to the country by nationality or address: United States 11 (list of 2026.10.02).
- Capital
- Porto-Novo
- Population
- 13,224,860 inh.
- Area
- 112,622 km²
- Currency
- XOF
- Regime
- republic
Executive in office
Head of State
Romuald Wadagni
Head of Government
Patrice Talon
Government in office 4 members
Ministre de l'Énergie
Édouard Dahome
Ministre des Petites et moyennes entreprises et de la Promotion de l'emploi
Awaou Baco
Ministre du Tourisme, de la Culture et des Arts
Yassine Latoundji
ministre de l'Agriculture
Adin Yéton Bloukounon Goubalan
Parliament
Assemblée nationale
109 seats
Inception 1991
Economic indicators World Bank · 2025
GDP
25 G$
GDP / capita
1,658 $
Growth
8.1 %
Inflation
1.1 %
Unemployment
1.6 %
Defense / GDP
0.7 %
Life expectancy
61.0 yrs
Governance indices V-Dem 2025 · Freedom House 2026 · CPI 2025 · RSF 2026
Democracy (V-Dem)
0.49/1
Freedoms (Freedom House)
61/100
Corruption (CPI)
45/100
Press freedom (RSF)
47/100
Military posture SIPRI · 2025
Global spending rank
#118
Annual budget
0.2 Md$
Defense effort
0.9 %PIB
Trade dependencies OEC · UN Comtrade · 2023
Exports
4 Md$
Imports
4 Md$
Balance
0 Md$
Top exports
- 35% Coton
Top imports
- 11% Riz
Export partners
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Bangladesh
17%
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Inde
11%
Diplomatic alignment UNGA 2020-2024 · Bailey-Strezhnev-Voeten
Vote concordance with each power at UN General Assembly.
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USA
31%
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GBR
33%
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FRA
38%
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DEU
38%
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RUS
53%
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CHN
67%
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IND
67%
Abstention: 25%
Political calendar Institute · Wikipedia · 2026-10-08
Last election
- 2026-04-12
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2026-01-11
Progressive Union Renewal 60 seats, Republican Bloc 49 (of 109) · turnout 36.7%
Result read from Wikipedia on 2026.10.08 (CC BY-SA)
Society · human UNDP HDI 2023 · World Bank · WID · UNHCR 2025
HDI
0.515/1
Gini
34.4
Refugees hosted
16,974
Refugees originating
1,279
National anthem
L'Aube nouvelle
Alliances and organisations Institut · Wikidata
- UN
- WTO
- Francophonie (OIF)
- OIC
- African Union
- ECOWAS
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Global attention Wikipedia · 90 days
The country's Wikipedia article is usually read 2,798 times a day (French and English). On 2026.10.07: 18,042, or ×6.4. Attention spike.
French + English French usual level 2026.07.10 · 2026.10.07 Wikimedia statistics (CC0), human users
Sources and freshness
- Executive, government, parliament, anthem · Wikidata (CC0) · 2026-10-08
- Economy · World Bank (CC BY 4.0) · 2025
- Indices and figures · V-Dem 2026 (OWID) · Freedom House 2026 (OWID) · Transparency International CPI 2025 · RSF 2026 · PNUD IDH 2025 (OWID) · Banque mondiale Gini 2021 · UNHCR 2025 · SIPRI 2026 (OWID) · read on 2026-10-08
- Memberships · Wikidata (CC0) · 2026-10-08
- Political calendar · Institute and Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0) · 2026-10-08
- Sanctions · US Treasury (OFAC), SDN and non-SDN lists · list of 2026-10-02 · read on 2026-10-08
- Sanctions · United Kingdom, UK Sanctions List (FCDO) · list of 2026-10-07 · read on 2026-10-08
- Sanctions · European Union, consolidated financial sanctions list · list of 2026-09-22 · read on 2026-10-08
- Institute dossier (sanctions, treaties, visits, capabilities) · as of 2026-05-01
- Summary · Wikipédia (CC BY-SA 4.0)