The country enjoys a stable political situation, marked by successive democratic alternations. On January 8, 2023, the parties supporting the incumbent president, Patrice Talon, won the legislative elections, with 81 seats out of the 109 seats in the National Assembly. The main opposition party, the Democrats, won 28 seats, marking the return of the Beninese opposition to Parliament after a four-year absence. The next municipal and legislative elections will take place on January 12, 2026. The presidential election will be held on
The population was 14.5 million in 2024, with a fertility rate of 5.7 children per woman and a life expectancy of 61.2 years (up 0.5 years from 60.7 years in 2023). Between 2021 and 2022, the national poverty rate was at 36.2%, down 2.3 percentage points from 2018-2019. The unemployment rate was 2.4%, while underemployment affected 72% of the labor force, and 90.1% of workers were employed in the informal sector.
Between 1990 and 2023, the value of Benin's Human Development Index increased from 0.351 to 0.515, an increase of 46.7%. Over the same period 1990 - 2023, life expectancy at birth in Benin increased by 7.8 years, the expected duration of schooling increased by 5.6 years and the average duration of schooling increased by 1.7 years. Benin's gross national income per capita has increased by about 70.9% between 1990 and 2023.
