Distillers Country guides / Benin
Benin
A one-page guide to Benin for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Porto-Novo (official capital); Cotonou is the seat of government
- Official languages
- French
- Currency
- West African CFA franc (XOF)
- Time zone
- UTC+1
- Area
- 114,760 km²
People
- Population
- 14.8 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 2.4% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 53.4%
- Aged under 15
- 41.3%
- Aged 65 and over
- 3.2%
- Life expectancy
- 61.0 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$24.6 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$1,658 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 8.07% (2025)
- Inflation
- 1.1% (2025)
Climate
Two rainy and two dry seasons: main rains April to late July and September-November; harmattan dust wind December-March. Coastal rainfall about 1,300 mm; Cotonou averages 31 C maximum and 24 C minimum.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- Sale or free supply barred to under-20s (1942 decree); fines CFAF 200,000-1,000,000, doubled for repeat offences
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 4.09 litres of pure alcohol (2024)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); World Bank API (population, area, GDP, growth, inflation); WHO GHO OData (SA_0000001688); UN Comtrade public preview API (HS 2208); Wikipedia: Benin; Wikipedia: Legal drinking age; Sagaci Research: Spirits market in Benin. Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.