Benin: Access to electricity (% of population)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2024, Benin's access to electricity (% of population) rose 2 percentage points on 2023 (from 57% to 59%).

Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2023), the average change was +1.57 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.5 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 14.5 percentage points in 2022 and the biggest yearly fall was 4.5 percentage points in 2015. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2015 to 2024 the straight-line trend is upward, about 3.18 percentage points a year. A straight line explains 88% of the movement over 10 observed years.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

In 2024, Benin had the 189th highest value of the 215 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Benin in the 2024 ranking

• Togo — 186th of 215: 61.1%
• Lesotho — 187th of 215: 60.6%
• Namibia — 188th of 215: 59.3%
• Ethiopia — 190th of 215: 56.6%
• Angola — 191st of 215: 55.5%
• Eritrea — 192nd of 215: 55.3%

What this measures

Access to electricity is the percentage of population with access to electricity. Electrification data are collected from industry, national surveys and international sources.

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a population-weighted average.

All 29 values

Access to electricity (% of population) in nearby economies

• Angola — 55.5% (2024)
• Botswana — 80.2% (2024)
• Burkina Faso — 34% (2024)
• Burundi — 20.1% (2024)
• Cabo Verde — 98.4% (2024)
• Cameroon — 72% (2024)
• Central African Republic — 18.2% (2024)
• Chad — 13.4% (2024)
• Comoros — 91.7% (2024)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — 22.5% (2024)

More environment data for Benin

• Population in largest city — 1.38 million (2025)
• Population in the largest city (% of urban population) — 17.4% (2025)
• Rural population — 6.91 million (2025)
• Rural population (% of total population) — 46.64% (2025)
• Urban population — 7.91 million (2025)
• Urban population (% of total population) — 53.36% (2025)
• Aquaculture production (metric tons) — 2,460 (2024)
• Capture fisheries production (metric tons) — 61,561 (2024)
• Total fisheries production (metric tons) — 64,021 (2024)
• Rural population growth (annual %) — 0.67% (2025)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Benin's access to electricity (% of population)?

59% in 2024, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1996?

It is up 44.5 percentage points from 14.5% in 1996. The highest value was 59% in 2024 and the lowest 14.5% in 1996.

How does Benin rank?

189th highest of 215 economies with data for 2024.

Is the latest change in access to electricity (% of population) unusual for Benin?

In 2024, Benin's access to electricity (% of population) rose 2 percentage points on 2023 (from 57% to 59%). Across the 27 yearly changes before that (1997 to 2023), the average change was +1.57 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 3.5 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.1 standard deviations above that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator EG.ELC.ACCS.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: SDG 7.1.1 Electrification Dataset, World Bank (WB), uri: https://trackingsdg7.esmap.org/downloads, note: Data is downloaded from ESMAP website. Data is released when a new Tracking SDG7 report is released., publisher: World Bank (WB), date accessed: 2024-05-16, date published: 2023 Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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