Economy · Exports of goods and services · Benin
Benin’s exports of goods and services fell to 17.1% of GDP in 2025.
17.1% of GDP
2025
Down 1.8 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
17.1% of GDP
What it is. This measure adds up the value of goods and services that residents of Benin sell to buyers abroad, then divides the total by GDP. Services in the total include things like transport and travel spending by visitors. Because it is a share of the economy, it can fall when exports shrink or when the rest of GDP grows faster. It records sales, not the profit made on them.
Higher is better. A higher share means more of the economy's income comes from foreign buyers, which also brings in foreign currency to pay for imports. The latest figure, for 2025, is 17.1% of GDP, down from 18.8% of GDP a year earlier, a fall of 1.8 percentage points. It is the lowest reading since 2016. The high over that span was 29.6% of GDP in 2019, so exports now carry far less weight in the economy than they did then.
Why it matters. A smaller export share means fewer of Benin's earnings come from customers abroad, so growth leans more on domestic spending. Exporting firms and the workers they employ have a smaller slice of the economy behind them. The state has less foreign currency coming in relative to national income. The next annual reading will show whether the 2025 level of 17.1% of GDP is a floor or the start of a longer slide.
| Period | Exports of goods and services · Benin |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 27.6% of GDP |
| 2017 | 27.2% of GDP |
| 2018 | 27.3% of GDP |
| 2019 | 29.6% of GDP |
| 2020 | 19.9% of GDP |
| 2021 | 20.9% of GDP |
| 2022 | 20.8% of GDP |
| 2023 | 20% of GDP |
| 2024 | 18.8% of GDP |
| 2025 | 17.1% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Exports of goods and services, Benin, 2025; source World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0), retrieved 8 Oct 2026; https://data.strata-af.com/economy/exports/benin
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Methodology
Exports of goods and services as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series NE.EXP.GNFS.ZS), retrieved through the World Bank API and published under CC BY 4.0. Updated annually; the World Bank's own source notes apply.