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2023
Economic Complexity
Trade -0.43Rank 83 of 132
2022
Economic Complexity
Research -0.74Rank 107 of 140
2023
Product
Exports | Imports $1.93B | $5.5B146 of 226 |  142 of 226
2023
Per Capita Product
Exports | Imports $137 | $389166 of 220 |  186 of 220

About

Overview In 2023, Benin was the number 123 economy in the world in terms of GDP (current US$), the number 146 in total exports, the number 142 in total imports, the number 168 economy in terms of GDP per capita (current US$) and the number 83 most complex economy according to the Economic Complexity Index (ECI) .

Exports The top exports of Benin are Gold ($766M), Raw Cotton ($490M), Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews ($142M), Soybeans ($113M), and Refined Petroleum ($40.5M), exporting mostly to United Arab Emirates ($803M), Bangladesh ($391M), India ($216M), China ($102M), and Togo ($53.9M).

Imports The top imports of Benin are Rice ($725M), Refined Petroleum ($397M), Palm Oil ($306M), Cars ($196M), and Poultry Meat ($196M), importing mostly from China ($1.17B), India ($842M), United States ($334M), France ($304M), and Nigeria ($236M).

Location Benin borders Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo by land and Ghana by sea.

Latest Trends

Latest Trade

Flow
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Y-AXIS SCALE

The following section uses the most recent trade data from partners of Benin.

Disclaimer: data is presented based on availability and only countries that use the harmonized system are being shown.

* Trade values are converted to USD using each month's exchange rate. For December 2023 data, the exchange rate from December 30, 2023 is used.

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Latest Data

Flow
Color
Depth

The data obtained is mirror data. The trade of countries that do not report current data can be reconstructed based on data reported by partner countries with current data available.

*All data is converted to USD using January 2020 exchange rates when data is reported in local currency.

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Historical Data

Yearly Trade

Flow
Color
Depth
Top Export (2023)Gold$766M
Top Destination (2023)United Arab Emirates$803M

In 2023, Benin exported a total of $1.93B, making it the number 146 exporter in the world. During the last five reported years the exports of Benin have changed by $225M from $1.71B in 2018 to $1.93B in 2023.

The most recent exports are led by Gold ($766M), Raw Cotton ($490M), Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews ($142M), Soybeans ($113M), and Refined Petroleum ($40.5M). The most common destination for the exports of Benin are United Arab Emirates ($803M), Bangladesh ($391M), India ($216M), China ($102M), and Togo ($53.9M).

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Exports (2023)
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Destinations (2023)
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Market Growth

Flow
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Growth
Fastest Growing Export Markets (2022 - 2023)
United Arab Emirates$422M (+ 111%)
Togo$25.1M (+ 87.1%)
Pakistan$11.8M (+ 36.8%)
Fastest Growing Import Markets (2022 - 2023)
Indonesia$96.5M (+ 93.1%)
India$83.3M (+ 11%)
Sweden$53.3M (+ 631%)

Total Export Growth by Market (2022 - 2023)

Potential Exports

Potential Exports

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Service Trade

Service Trade

Benin Exports Services (2015)$258M
Benin Imports Services (2015)$607M

In 2015, Benin exported $258M worth of services. The top services exported by Benin in 2015 were Other transport ($128M), Business travel ($78.3M), Air transport ($14.9M), Financial services ($12.3M), and Insurance services ($11.5M).

The top services imported by Benin in 2015 were Sea transport ($279M), Air transport ($140M), Miscellaneous business, professional, and technical services ($92M), Computer and information services ($20.4M), and Insurance services ($19.6M).

Service Exports (2015)

Service Imports (2015)

Economic Complexity

Overview

Economic Complexity (Trade)-0.43Rank 83 of 132
Economic Complexity (Research)-0.74Rank 107 of 140

Most Specialized Products by RCA Index

Benin has a high level of specialization in Raw Cotton (358), Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews (189), Other Oily Seeds (62.8), Other Vegetable Residues (21.8), and Light Pure Woven Cotton (21.7). Specialization is measured using RCA, an index that takes the ratio between Benin observed and expected exports in each product.

Export Opportunities by Relatedness

The top export opportunities for Benin according to the relatedness index, were Cocoa Beans (0.1), Sorghum (0.095), Manganese Ore (0.095), Bananas (0.094), and Insect Resins (0.093). Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product. The barchart show only products that Benin is not specialized in.

Product Space

The product space is a network connecting products that are likely to be co-exported. The product space can be used to predict future exports, since countries are more likely to start exporting products that are related to current exports. Relatedness measures the distance between a product, and all of the products a country currently specializes in.

Relatedness Space

This network shows the products most related to the production structure of Benin. These are products that tend to be co-exported with the products that Benin exports. Higher relatedness values ​​indicate greater knowledge, which predicts a greater probability of exporting that product in the future.

Relatedness Space (2023)

Diversification Frontier

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Depth

The Complexity-Relatedness diagram compares the risk vs strategic value of a country's potential export oppotunities. Relatedness is predictive of the probability that a country increases its exports in a product. Complexity, is associated with higher levels of income, economic growth, less income inequality, and lower greenhouse emissions.

Diversification Frontier

Economic Complexity Ranking

Methodology
Scale

During the last 20 years Benin's⁩ ⁨economy has become relatively less complex, moving from the ⁩⁨nullth to the 83rd⁩ position in the ECI rank.

These economic complexity rankings use 6 digit exports classified according to the HS96 classification. We consider only countries with population of at least 1 million and exports of at least $1 billion, and products with world trade over $500 million. To explore different rankings and vary these parameters visit the custom rankings section.

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ECI (Trade) Ranking by Country

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