Economy · Imports of goods and services · Benin
Benin’s imports of goods and services fell to 20.1% of GDP in 2025.
20.1% of GDP
2025
Down 1.7 pp from 2024.
Updated 8 Oct 2026
In plain words
20.1% of GDP
What it is. This measure totals what Benin's residents, firms and government buy from abroad, covering physical goods and services such as freight and travel, and divides the total by GDP. It is a gross figure, so exports are left out of the calculation. A higher share means more of the economy's spending and production runs through foreign supply. Benin's position next to Nigeria and its port at Cotonou mean re-exports and informal cross-border trade can affect how fully trade is recorded.
Neither way is good in itself. Higher imports can reflect strong demand and investment in machinery and equipment, and they can also reflect heavy dependence on foreign supply. Lower imports can reflect more production at home, and they can also reflect weaker spending. The latest figure is 20.1% of GDP for 2025, down from 21.8% of GDP a year earlier, a fall of 1.7 percentage points. It is the lowest level since 2016. The highest was 34.5% of GDP in 2018, so the share has dropped by a wide margin over the period.
Why it matters. A lower import share means a smaller slice of the economy depends on foreign suppliers for fuel, food, manufactured goods and equipment. Firms that buy inputs abroad have less of their costs tied to exchange rates and shipping. Imports are also a base for customs revenue, so the state has a smaller trade volume to tax relative to the size of the economy than it had in 2018.
| Period | Imports of goods and services · Benin |
|---|---|
| 2016 | 31.4% of GDP |
| 2017 | 34.3% of GDP |
| 2018 | 34.5% of GDP |
| 2019 | 34.1% of GDP |
| 2020 | 25% of GDP |
| 2021 | 27.1% of GDP |
| 2022 | 23.6% of GDP |
| 2023 | 24.7% of GDP |
| 2024 | 21.8% of GDP |
| 2025 | 20.1% of GDP |
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (CC BY 4.0) · Licence: CC BY 4.0
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Strata-AF™ Data, Imports 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/imports/benin
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Methodology
Imports of goods and services as a share of GDP. Unit: % of GDP.
Source: World Bank, World Development Indicators (series NE.IMP.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.