Rural population in Benin
Benin: Rural population was 6.91 million in 2025. ▲ Rising
Rural population in Benin, 1960–2025
Source: World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
Analysis
Benin recorded 6.91 million for rural population in 2025. That is the highest value across all 66 years on record.
That represents a change of up 0.7% on the previous year and up 12.5% over ten years.
Over the whole period, rural population in Benin peaked at 6.91 million in 2025 and was at its lowest, 2.27 million, in 1960.
That places Benin 72nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently rising across the 66 years of available data.
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960s | 2.39 million | 2.27 million | 2.50 million | 10 |
| 1970s | 2.65 million | 2.52 million | 2.81 million | 10 |
| 1980s | 3.10 million | 2.85 million | 3.37 million | 10 |
| 1990s | 3.88 million | 3.44 million | 4.34 million | 10 |
| 2000s | 4.97 million | 4.46 million | 5.48 million | 10 |
| 2010s | 6.08 million | 5.60 million | 6.53 million | 10 |
| 2020s | 6.77 million | 6.61 million | 6.91 million | 6 |
Countries ranked near Benin
More agriculture & rural data for Benin
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 5.63 billion current US$ (2025)
- Agriculture, forestry, and fishing, value added 22.9% (2025)
- Rural population growth 0.7% (2025)
- Rural population 46.6% (2025)
- Agricultural raw materials imports 1.8% (2024)
- Agricultural raw materials exports 52.9% (2024)
- Agriculture as a share of GDP vs. GDP per capita 22.9% (2025)
- Share of GDP from agriculture 22.9% (2025)
- Land under cereal production 2.14 million hectares (2024)
- Cereal production 2.91 million metric tons (2024)
Frequently asked questions
- What is rural population in Benin?
- Rural population in Benin was 6.91 million in 2025, according to World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN).
- What is the highest rural population recorded in Benin?
- The highest recorded value was 6.91 million in 2025.
- What is the lowest rural population recorded in Benin?
- The lowest recorded value was 2.27 million in 1960.
- How does Benin rank for rural population?
- Benin ranks 72nd out of 215 countries with data for 2025.
- Is rural population rising or falling in Benin?
- Over the last ten years it is up 12.5%. The long-run trend across the full record is rising.
- Where does this Benin data come from?
- The figures come from World Urbanization Prospects, United Nations (UN), published as part of Rural population. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 66 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (World Bank Open Data).
About this data
Rural population refers to people living in rural areas as defined by national statistical offices. It is calculated as the difference between total population and urban population. Aggregation of urban and rural population may not add up to total population because of different country coverages.