Economy · Current account balance · Benin
Benin’s current account balance was −8.2% of GDP in 2023.
−8.2% of GDP
2023
Down 2.5 pp from 2022.
Stale — last updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
−8.2% of GDP
What it is. The current account balance adds up what a country earns from the rest of the world and what it pays out. It covers trade in goods and services, income paid and received across borders, and transfers such as money sent home by workers abroad. A negative figure means the country spends more abroad than it earns and must fill the gap with foreign borrowing, grants or investment. Capital flows themselves sit in a separate account and are left out.
Higher is better. A higher balance is better because a smaller deficit, or a surplus, leaves a country less reliant on money from abroad to pay its way. Benin's balance was −8.2% of GDP in 2023, down from −5.7% of GDP a year earlier, a fall of 2.5 percentage points. That is the lowest figure since 2014. The strongest reading in that span was −1.7% of GDP in 2020, so the 2023 deficit is far wider than at the best point of the period.
Why it matters. A deficit of 8.2% of GDP means Benin needs a steady stream of external financing to cover its imports and other payments abroad. For the state, that raises the importance of keeping lenders and investors willing to supply funds. For firms and households, a wide gap leaves prices of imported goods more exposed to any tightening in that financing.
| Period | Current account balance · Benin |
|---|---|
| 2014 | −6.7% of GDP |
| 2015 | −6% of GDP |
| 2016 | −3% of GDP |
| 2017 | −4.2% of GDP |
| 2018 | −4.5% of GDP |
| 2019 | −4% of GDP |
| 2020 | −1.7% of GDP |
| 2021 | −4.2% of GDP |
| 2022 | −5.7% of GDP |
| 2023 | −8.2% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Current account balance, Benin, 2023; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/current-account-balance/benin
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Methodology
Current account balance as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP. A negative value is a deficit.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series BN.CAB.XOKA.GD.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.