Benin’s trade profile combines a large merchandise and services import requirement with growing exports and positive real economic growth. The latest figures available here show 2024 exports of US$1.113 billion and imports of US$3.367 billion in the World Integrated Trade Solution (WITS) Country Snapshot, while the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) General Profile reports merchandise exports of US$3.772 billion and merchandise imports of US$5.230 billion for the same year. These are different statistical measures and should not be treated as interchangeable.
Contents
- 2024 trade overview
- Longer-term merchandise and services trends
- Products and trade partners
- Services, openness, and digital goods
- Tariffs and non-tariff measures
- Investment and economic context
- United Kingdom and United States trade links
2024 trade overview
The WITS Country Snapshot records Benin’s 2024 total trade at US$4.479 billion. Exports were US$1.113 billion and imports were US$3.367 billion, producing a trade balance of -US$2.254 billion. This snapshot therefore presents imports at roughly three times the value of exports, although no unsupported ratio is needed to see the direction of the balance.
The same source provides a December 2024 monthly view. Exports were US$92.053 million, imports were US$252.972 million, and total trade was US$345.025 million. The December monthly trade balance was -US$160.919 million. Monthly figures describe that month and should not be substituted for the full-year totals.
UNCTAD’s General Profile uses merchandise trade totals for 2024. It reports merchandise exports of US$3.772 billion, merchandise imports of US$5.230 billion, and a merchandise trade balance of -US$1.458 billion. UNCTAD also reports a 2024 merchandise exports growth rate of +6.2 percent. The difference between these merchandise figures and the WITS Country Snapshot totals reflects the measures used by the two source profiles.
| 2024 indicator | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Exports | US$1.113 billion | WITS Country Snapshot |
| Imports | US$3.367 billion | WITS Country Snapshot |
| Total trade | US$4.479 billion | WITS Country Snapshot |
| Trade balance | -US$2.254 billion | WITS Country Snapshot |
| Merchandise exports | US$3.772 billion | UNCTAD General Profile |
| Merchandise imports | US$5.230 billion | UNCTAD General Profile |
| Merchandise trade balance | -US$1.458 billion | UNCTAD General Profile |
Longer-term merchandise and services trends
UNCTAD’s General Profile shows merchandise exports rising from US$578 million in 2005 to US$1.282 billion in 2010, US$1.682 billion in 2015, and US$3.772 billion in 2024. Merchandise imports also increased across those reported years: US$1.018 billion in 2005, US$2.054 billion in 2010, US$2.561 billion in 2015, and US$5.230 billion in 2024.
The merchandise trade balance remained negative in each listed year. It was -US$440 million in 2005, -US$772 million in 2010, -US$879 million in 2015, and -US$1.458 billion in 2024. UNCTAD gives the 2024 normalized trade balance as -0.172, without changing the underlying dollar balance.
Services show a similar pattern of imports exceeding exports in the UNCTAD series. Services exports were US$194 million in 2005, US$377 million in 2010, US$344 million in 2015, and US$495 million in 2024. Services imports were US$281 million, US$515 million, US$577 million, and US$1.413 billion in those same years. The services trade balance moved from -US$88 million in 2005 to -US$138 million in 2010, -US$233 million in 2015, and -US$918 million in 2024.
For 2024, UNCTAD reports real GDP growth of 6.20 percent. GDP was US$21.183 billion and GDP per capita was US$1,465. The current account balance was -6.44 percent of GDP. The exchange rate was 606.344 CFA francs per US dollar. These macroeconomic figures provide context for the trade amounts but do not measure the same thing as exports or imports.
Products and trade partners
The WTO Trade Profiles 2023 publication reports Benin’s 2022 merchandise exports at US$3.547 billion and imports at US$4.784 billion. In that profile, Benin ranked 134th in world merchandise exports and 137th in world merchandise imports. GDP was US$17.413 billion, GDP per capita was US$1,298, and the current account balance was -5.7 percent of GDP.
Cotton, not carded or combed, was the leading exported product in 2022 at US$580 million. Other oil seeds and oleaginous fruits ranked second at US$42 million, followed by coconuts, Brazil nuts and cashew nuts at US$33 million. Solid residues from other oil were fourth at US$29 million, and sunflower-seed or cotton oil was fifth at US$13 million.
Rice was the top imported product at US$665 million. Petroleum oils other than crude followed at US$548 million. Meat and edible offal of poultry accounted for US$110 million, medicaments in measured doses for US$121 million, and mineral or chemical fertilisers for US$116 million. The listed product values are reported individually by the WTO profile; they should not be added into a complete trade total.
The WTO profile identifies Bangladesh as the main destination in Benin’s 2022 export destination basket, with 45.3 percent. India accounted for 11.9 percent, China for 6.1 percent, Egypt for 4.5 percent, and the European Union for 4.2 percent. For import origins, the European Union accounted for 21.4 percent, India for 15.7 percent, China for 13.1 percent, the United Arab Emirates for 6.7 percent, and Nigeria for 5.1 percent.
Services, openness, and digital goods
The WITS Country Snapshot reports Benin’s 2023 service imports at US$1.540 billion and service exports at US$461.101 million. It also reports imports of goods and services equal to 24.66 percent of GDP, and exports of goods and services equal to 20.00 percent of GDP.
The WTO Trade Profiles 2023 publication reports service exports of US$257 million in 2022 and service imports of US$588 million in 2021. Its transport exports index was 8 for 2010–2022 and 43 in 2022. The travel exports index was -98 in 2021. These index figures are not dollar values and are best read separately from the service trade totals.
UNCTAD shows the sum of imports and exports as a share of GDP as the definition of trade openness for 2024, but the supplied profile does not provide a numeric value for that indicator. The same profile reports ICT goods at 0.18 percent of total exports and 2.37 percent of total imports in 2024.
The WTO profile gives a broader composition view for 2021. Agricultural products represented 24.2 percent of exports, fuels and mining products 1.1 percent, manufactures 3.9 percent, and other products 70.7 percent. On the import side, agriculture represented 28.6 percent, fuels and mining 10.5 percent, manufactures 34.2 percent, and other imports 26.7 percent.
Tariffs and non-tariff measures
The WITS Country Snapshot reports that Benin had two tariff agreements in 2023. Its effectively applied simple average tariff was 11.18 percent, while its weighted average applied tariff was 10.67 percent. The maximum applied tariff rate was 35 percent.
Duty-free imports were reported at US$630,003.46 thousand in 2023. The duty-free tariff lines share was 21.05 percent. This share describes tariff lines, whereas the duty-free imports figure is a value measure; they should not be interpreted as equivalent indicators.
WITS also reports 62 non-tariff measure (NTM) measures in 2024 and 5,052 NTM-affected HS 6-digit products. These counts describe the recorded coverage of measures and affected product classifications, not the monetary cost of compliance.
Investment and economic context
WITS reports Benin’s 2024 inward FDI stock at US$4.019 billion and inward FDI flow at US$543 million. Outward FDI stock was US$437 million and outward FDI flow was US$60 million. UNCTAD’s General Profile gives closely corresponding 2024 flows: FDI inflows of US$543.01 million and outflows of US$60.28 million.
The WITS Country Snapshot lists Benin’s 2023 population at 11,485,048 and GDP at US$19.673 billion. GNI per capita was US$1,390. Its 2023 trade balance was -US$916 million in current US dollar terms, or -4.66 percent of GDP. The same snapshot reports a Herfindahl-Hirschman market concentration index of 0.41, an export market penetration index of 1.60, a world growth indicator of -3.13 percent, and a country growth indicator of -2.67 percent.
WITS also reports global value chain indicators for 2015: GVC-related output was 4 percent of output, and GVC-related trade was 25 percent of gross trade. These figures are historical indicators and are not 2024 estimates.
United Kingdom and United States trade links
The UK Trade and Investment Factsheet reports Benin’s UK total market share in goods and services at 1.0 percent in 2024. The goods-only share was also 1.0 percent, while the services-only share was 0.8 percent. In 2015, the corresponding shares were 3.7 percent for total goods and services, 3.4 percent for goods, and 5.3 percent for services.
The same factsheet reports UK inward FDI stock associated with Benin at £11 million in 2024, compared with £12 million in 2023 and £13 million in 2022. These values are in pounds sterling and should not be combined with the dollar-denominated FDI figures reported by WITS or UNCTAD.
The U.S. Trade Representative’s Benin page reports that U.S. goods and services trade with Benin totaled $397.6 million in 2024. For 2025, U.S. goods trade totaled $370.6 million, including $330.0 million in U.S. goods exports to Benin and $40.6 million in U.S. goods imports from Benin. The resulting U.S. goods trade surplus was $289.4 million.
For services in 2024, the U.S. Trade Representative reports total services trade of $135 million, with U.S. services exports of $82 million and services imports from Benin of $53 million. The U.S. services trade surplus was $30 million. The 2025 goods figures and 2024 services figures cover different years and trade categories.