Benin: Tertiary education, academic staff (% female)

Key figures

Since 1971 it is up 8.01 percentage points from 12.12% in 1971. The World Bank has no value for 32 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2018, Benin's tertiary education, academic staff (% female) fell 7.07 percentage points on 2017 (from 27.2% to 20.13%).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2017), the average change was −0.65 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 2.46 percentage points in 1994 and the biggest yearly fall was 7.07 percentage points in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Benin in the 2018 ranking

• Lesotho — 1st of 4: 52.6%
• Cabo Verde — 2nd of 4: 39.08%
• Mozambique — 3rd of 4: 28.4%

What this measures

Tertiary education, academic staff (% female) is the share of female academic staff in tertiary education.

Limitations: The indicator measures the level of gender representation in the teaching profession, rather than the effectiveness and quality of teaching.

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

All 16 values

Tertiary education, academic staff (% female) in nearby economies

• Botswana — 41.52% (2023)
• Burkina Faso — 9.6% (2024)
• Burundi — 14.52% (2025)
• Cabo Verde — 39.08% (2018)
• Cameroon — 26.79% (2024)
• Chad — 7.88% (2020)
• Congo, Rep. — 13.27% (2017)
• Côte d'Ivoire — 14.01% (2024)
• Eritrea — 13.77% (2016)
• Eswatini — 41.99% (2015)

More education data for Benin

• Primary school starting age (years) — 6 (2025)
• Primary education, duration (years) — 6 (2025)
• Lower secondary school starting age (years) — 12 (2025)
• Secondary education, duration (years) — 7 (2025)
• Primary education, pupils — 2.4 million (2022)
• School enrollment, primary (% gross) — 108.04% (2022)
• School enrollment, primary, female (% gross) — 103.91% (2022)
• School enrollment, primary, male (% gross) — 112.06% (2022)
• Primary education, teachers — 59,742 (2022)
• School enrollment, tertiary (% gross) — 10.24% (2022)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Benin's tertiary education, academic staff (% female)?

20.13% in 2018, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1971?

It is up 8.01 percentage points from 12.12% in 1971. The highest value was 27.2% in 2017 and the lowest 7.58% in 2009.

Is the latest change in tertiary education, academic staff (% female) unusual for Benin?

In 2018, Benin's tertiary education, academic staff (% female) fell 7.07 percentage points on 2017 (from 27.2% to 20.13%). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (1972 to 2017), the average change was −0.65 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 2.17 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 3.0 standard deviations below that average, so it was unusually large compared with the rest of the record.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API..

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator SE.TER.TCHR.FE.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Data API, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources, note: The data are obtained through the UIS API. 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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