Cost of Living in Benin
Image credit: Manu25 at French Wikipedia
Purchasing Power vs. United States
Based on GDP per capita (PPP). Benin: $3,901/capita.
Cities in Benin
Income Category
Happiness
4.4 / 10
#114 globally
GDP per Capita
Population
How Far Your Money Goes
Prices are 22% higher than the global benchmark (New York City = 100).
Child Education
Public-schooling rules are not sourced for Benin yet. Country-level enrollment, instruction-language, and homeschool notes will appear here once verified.
Childcare & Domestic Help
Nanny, housekeeper, and driver pricing is not yet sourced for Benin. We publish this section only when we can tie it to verified local samples or a clearly marked country fallback.
Healthcare
System strength, outcome signals, facility coverage, and self-pay visibility in Benin.
Method: country metrics come from public system indicators, facility coverage reflects mapped providers we can inventory, direct pricing only reflects observed self-pay pages, and relative care cost can fall back to broad cost-of-living healthcare indices. Sparse pricing does not imply sparse healthcare availability.
Healthcare system
LimitedCoverage looks thinner, doctor staffing is lighter, and hospital capacity looks tighter weigh on this rating.
Public care
LimitedPublic coverage looks thinner, public funding looks lighter, and patients still shoulder a meaningful share of costs weigh on this rating.
Private care
GoodA large tracked hospital and clinic network and a clearly private facility base help, but self-pay pricing transparency is still sparse.
UHC coverage
38/100
2023
Physicians
0.22/1k
2023
Hospital beds
0.43/1k
2021
Out of pocket
42%
2023
Outcome signals
Life expectancy
61.0 yrs
2024
Maternal mortality
518/100k
2023
Neonatal mortality
27.2/1k
2024
International patient readiness
MixedA visible private hospital base and there is visible specialty depth help, but price transparency is still sparse and headline outcomes are less reassuring.
Pricing transparency
LimitedPublished self-pay prices are scarce weigh on this rating.
Facility coverage
Self-pay pricing visibility
No verified self-pay prices are published for the tracked facilities in Benin yet.
This usually reflects low online price transparency rather than a lack of healthcare providers.
Notable facilities
System metrics: World Bank WDI · Updated 2026-06-01
Safety & Governance
Street Safety
Source: Numbeo where a city row is matched; otherwise World Bank WGI and country-level safety context.
Political Stability
World Bank WGI scale: -2.5 to +2.5.
Wages by Sector
| Sector | Median |
|---|---|
| Administrative & Support Services | — |
| Agriculture & Farming | — |
| Arts, Entertainment & Recreation | — |
| Construction | — |
| Education | — |
| Finance & Insurance | — |
| Healthcare & Social Work | — |
| Hospitality & Food Service | — |
| Information & Technology | — |
| Manufacturing | — |
| Mining & Quarrying | — |
| Other Services | — |
| Professional & Scientific Services | — |
| Public Administration & Defence | — |
| Retail & Wholesale Trade | — |
| Transport & Logistics | — |
| Utilities | — |
2022 annual wages in Benin · Source: ILO ILOSTAT
Visa Information (US passport)
Short-stay entry
US passport holders need advance travel authorization or a visa before entry.
About Benin
Benin is a lower-middle-income West African country where Porto-Novo is the capital and Cotonou is the more practical base for services, healthcare, and connectivity. It sits on the budget-friendly side of Sub-Saharan Africa for relocators, with documented expat costs around $800-1,500 a month, but the low price point comes with uneven infrastructure. French is the official language, so non-French speakers should treat language as a real planning issue, not a small inconvenience. Cotonou offers the best healthcare access, while options outside it are limited enough that regional medical travel may matter. Internet is improving, with urban 4G and typical city speeds around 5-15 Mbps. The climate is hot, humid, and rainy from May to October, and safety planning should include petty crime in cities and avoiding northern regions.
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Common questions about Benin
Sourced from SortaRich's public-data ranking engine — every figure links to its institutional source.
Is Benin a good country to live in?
Benin is a lower-rated country to live in per the World Happiness Report (4.4 of 10, ranking #114 globally). Whether it's right for you depends on your priorities — use SortaRich's free quiz to see how Benin ranks for your specific income, family, and visa profile.
Sources: World Happiness Report, SortaRich Methodology
How much does it cost to live in Benin?
The cost of living in Benin is about 22% more expensive than the global benchmark (New York City), with an overall cost-of-living index of 122. SortaRich personalizes these numbers to your home city's purchasing power so the comparison is real, not nominal.
Sources: SortaRich Cost of Living, World Bank ICP 2021
How far does $1 go in Benin?
$1 goes about 2.8x further in Benin than in the baseline market — your home-country income stretches that much more (current PPP ratio: 2.78). The figure adjusts every year as exchange rates and local prices shift. SortaRich uses World Bank ICP 2021 as the anchor and Penn World Tables 11.0 for cross-validation.
Sources: World Bank ICP 2021, Penn World Tables 11.0
What visa do I need to move to Benin?
To move to Benin you have these visa options: Tourist entry: evisa. Visa rules change frequently — confirm the current terms with the official immigration authority before booking flights.
Source: SortaRich Visa Database
What are the best cities to live in Benin?
The best cities to live in Benin are Porto-Novo — those are the most-searched options among the 1 cities profiled in the SortaRich database. Each city page includes a personalized PPP comparison versus your home city plus subnational price data where available.
Source: SortaRich City Index