Benin: International tourism, expenditures (current US$)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2019, Benin's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) rose 71.1% on 2018 (from US$76 million to US$130 million).

Across the 23 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2018), the average change was +10.7% and a typical year strayed about 48.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 160.1% in 2015 and the biggest yearly fall was 58.9% in 2013. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2010 to 2019 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 17% of the movement over 10 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

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

How it compares

In 2019, Benin had the 9th highest value of the 13 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 2019 ranking

• Myanmar — 6th of 13: US$214 million
• Burkina Faso — 7th of 13: US$185.2 million
• Niger — 8th of 13: US$144.5 million
• Guinea-Bissau — 10th of 13: US$88.9 million
• Sierra Leone — 11th of 13: US$83 million
• Togo — 12th of 13: US$61 million

What this measures

International tourism expenditures are expenditures of international outbound visitors in other countries, including payments to foreign carriers for international transport. These expenditures may include those by residents traveling abroad as same-day visitors, except in cases where these are important enough to justify separate classification. For some countries they do not include expenditures for passenger transport items. Data are in current U.S. dollars.

Limitations: Tourism can be either domestic or international. The data refers to international tourism, where the traveler's country of residence differs from the visiting country. International tourism consists of inbound (arrival) and outbound (departures) tourism. The data are from the World Tourism Organization (WTO), a United Nations agency. The data on inbound and outbound tourists refer to the number of arrivals and departures, not to the number of people traveling. Expenditure associated with the activity of international visitors has been traditionally identified with the travel item of the Balance of Payments (BOP).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a gap-filled total.

All 25 values

International tourism, expenditures (current US$) in nearby economies

• Angola — US$691 million (2020)
• Botswana — US$91.8 million (2020)
• Burkina Faso — US$185.2 million (2019)
• Cabo Verde — US$59 million (2020)
• Cameroon — US$697 million (2020)
• Comoros — US$43 million (2020)
• Congo, Dem. Rep. — US$115 million (2018)
• Congo, Rep. — US$457 million (2016)
• Côte d'Ivoire — US$315 million (2020)
• Eswatini

More private sector & trade data for Benin

• Merchandise trade (% of GDP) — 36.39% (2025)
• Merchandise imports (current US$) — US$4.95 billion (2025)
• Merchandise exports (current US$) — US$3.99 billion (2025)
• Merchandise imports from high-income economies (% of total merchandise imports) — 41.44% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise imports) — 0.0000205% (2023)
• Merchandise imports by the reporting economy (current US$) — US$3.91 billion (2023)
• Merchandise exports to high-income economies (% of total merchandise exports) — 11.55% (2023)
• Merchandise exports by the reporting economy, residual (% of total merchandise exports) — -0.0000000000000113% (2023)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
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Questions people ask

What is Benin's international tourism, expenditures (current US$)?

US$130 million in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1995?

It is up 170.83% from US$48 million in 1995 (4.24% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was US$148 million in 2017 and the lowest US$32 million in 1998.

How does Benin rank?

9th highest of 13 economies with data for 2019.

Is the latest change in international tourism, expenditures (current US$) unusual for Benin?

In 2019, Benin's international tourism, expenditures (current US$) rose 71.1% on 2018 (from US$76 million to US$130 million). Across the 23 yearly changes before that (1996 to 2018), the average change was +10.7% and a typical year strayed about 48.4% from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.2 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator ST.INT.XPND.CD, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Yearbook of Tourism Statistics, Compendium of Tourism Statistics and data files, UN Tourism 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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