Benin Population
Benin had an estimated population of 14,814,460 in mid-2025 (World Bank), making it the 75th most populous of 217 countries and territories, with 0.18% of everyone alive. The counter above projects that figure forward at the current growth rate of +2.40% a year.
Benin at a glance
How Benin's population is changing
Benin's population is growing fast: +2.40% a year, which works out to about +355,979 people per year, or +975 a day. Births (33.4 per 1,000) and deaths (8.7 per 1,000) alone would give +2.47% a year; net migration removes about 7,847 people a year (−0.05%). Roughly one in every 555 people on Earth lives in Benin.
Population of Benin since 1960
In 1960, Benin had 2,517,286 people. By 2025 that was 14,814,460 — 5.9× larger. The fastest growth came between 1984 and 1994, when the population rose by 38%.
| Year | Population | Change vs previous row |
|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 2,517,286 | — |
| 1970 | 3,065,057 | +21.8% |
| 1980 | 3,925,251 | +28.1% |
| 1990 | 5,281,479 | +34.6% |
| 2000 | 7,221,619 | +36.7% |
| 2010 | 9,797,484 | +35.7% |
| 2020 | 13,070,169 | +33.4% |
| 2025 | 14,814,460 | +13.3% |
Benin from 1800 to 2100
Modelled estimates put Benin at about 636,559 people in 1800; the UN estimates 14,814,460 in 2025 (23× 1800) and projects 39,587,567 for 2100 in its medium scenario. That is still 167% growth over the rest of this century.
| Year | Population | Kind |
|---|---|---|
| 1800 | 636,559 | modelled estimate |
| 1850 | 789,547 | modelled estimate |
| 1900 | 1,187,522 | modelled estimate |
| 1950 | 2,250,476 | UN estimate |
| 2000 | 7,221,618 | UN estimate |
| 2025 | 14,814,460 | UN projection |
| 2050 | 24,433,814 | UN projection |
| 2075 | 33,548,439 | UN projection |
| 2100 | 39,587,567 | UN projection |
Country live/base figures use World Bank estimates; this historical/future chart uses a separate UN series and need not match the World Bank base in overlapping years. Before 1950: HYDE 3.3 / Gapminder reconstructions via Our World in Data — historical modelling, not censuses. 1950–2023: UN World Population Prospects 2024. 2024–2100: UN medium projection. Open the time machine to see the whole map in any year.
Largest listed places in Benin
10 records sorted by displayed base population. Definitions vary (province/administrative unit, UN urban centre or GeoNames settlement); this is not a harmonised city ranking. Shares use World Bank 2025 country population 14,814,460. Dates and boundaries may differ. Overlapping entities are not summed.
| # | Place | Population | Definition | Share | Source / reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porto-Novo | 818,617 | UN urban centre | 5.53% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 2 | Parakou | 395,528 | UN urban centre | 2.67% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 3 | Abomey-Calavi | 385,755 | GeoNames settlement | 2.60% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 4 | Bohicon | 293,833 | UN urban centre | 1.98% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 5 | Godomè | 253,262 | GeoNames settlement | 1.71% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 6 | Djougou | 159,643 | UN urban centre | 1.08% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 7 | Kandi | 121,259 | UN urban centre | 0.82% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 8 | Abomey | 117,824 | GeoNames settlement | 0.80% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
| 9 | Malanville | 114,386 | UN urban centre | 0.77% | UN DESA, World Urbanization Prospects 2025; 2025 annual estimate |
| 10 | Ekpé | 75,313 | GeoNames settlement | 0.51% | GeoNames settlement record; Population reference date not supplied in local record |
How Benin compares
Benin has almost the same population as Rwanda (14,569,341).
| Rank | Country | Population | vs Benin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #73 |  Zimbabwe | 16,950,795 | +14% | compare → |
| #74 |  Guinea | 15,099,727 | +2% | compare → |
| #76 |  Rwanda | 14,569,341 | −2% | compare → |
| #77 |  Burundi | 14,390,003 | −3% | compare → |
Compare Benin with any country →
Same region (Sub-Saharan Africa): Nigeria, Ethiopia, DR Congo, Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya.
Explore around Benin
Land neighbours (4)
Nigeria 237,527,782 · 16.0× the population · compare
Niger 27,917,831 · 1.9× the population · compare
Burkina Faso 24,074,580 · 1.6× the population · compare
Togo 8,591,626 · 1.7× smaller · compare
Benin's 4 neighbours together hold 298,111,819 people — 20.1× Benin's population. The most populous is Nigeria (237,527,782).
In its region
Benin is the 25th most populous of the 48 economies in Sub-Saharan Africa, holding 1.1% of the region's 1,321,654,217 people.
Rankings featuring Benin
Cities
Porto-Novo, Parakou, Abomey-Calavi, Bohicon, Godomè, Djougou, Kandi, Abomey — all Benin's cities on the map.
World population history · The world when you were born · Benin when you were born · Time machine · Embed this live counter on your site
About these numbers
Population, growth, birth and death rates, migration, density, age structure, life expectancy, fertility and GDP per capita come from the World Bank Indicators API (latest available year shown beside each figure). The live counter applies the annual growth rate continuously from 1 July 2025 — a model, not a measurement. City populations are the latest census or official estimate held by GeoNames and are not projected. Sub-city units are folded into their parent city.
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Read this country carefully
This page is a structured reference entry. Its sources, geographic definition and reference dates determine what the figures mean; it is not independent reporting about the causes of change. Read the accompanying explanation before comparing different places or vintages.