# Benin and Burkina Faso compared Benin and Burkina Faso side by side: 40 shared sourced indicators across 9 domains, their chronicles record no events of each other. Canonical: https://terralore.co/compare/ben-vs-bfa Updated: 2026-08-10 (latest of the two dossiers' refreshes and the two chronicles' verification dates) Two sourced records set beside each other — nothing on this page was written for the pair. Every figure is the same observation, with the same source, as on the two national dossiers; every event is the same record, with the same sources, as on its own chronicle. Figures are compared, never graded. A "—" is an absence in the source data, never a zero; each value shows its own observation year — vintages differ by indicator and nation. ## Formation - Benin: c. 1600 — The Kingdom of Dahomey is founded on the Abomey plateau - Burkina Faso: c. 1050 — Oubri founds the Ouagadougou dynasty of the Mossi ## Economy | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | GDP | $21 B | 2024 | $23 B | 2024 | | GDP per capita | $1,485 | 2024 | $982 | 2024 | | GDP growth | 7.5% | 2024 | 4.8% | 2024 | | Inflation | 1.2% | 2024 | 4.2% | 2024 | | Trade openness | 40.6% | 2024 | 60.5% | 2024 | ## Society | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Population | 14 m | 2024 | 24 m | 2024 | | Life expectancy | 61.0 yrs | 2024 | 61.3 yrs | 2024 | | Urban population | 52.5% | 2024 | 28.3% | 2024 | | Fertility rate | 4.5 | 2024 | 4.1 | 2024 | ## Governance | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Voice & accountability | 50.2 | 2024 | 40.0 | 2024 | | Political stability | 59.0 | 2024 | 33.3 | 2024 | | Government effectiveness | 47.7 | 2024 | 34.3 | 2024 | | Regulatory quality | 50.5 | 2024 | 46.6 | 2024 | | Rule of law | 49.9 | 2024 | 41.8 | 2024 | | Control of corruption | 43.0 | 2024 | 42.7 | 2024 | ## Health | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Health spending | 3.3% | 2023 | 7.8% | 2023 | | Physicians | 0.22 | 2023 | 0.15 | 2022 | | Under-5 mortality | 74.7 | 2024 | 74.9 | 2024 | | Measles immunisation | 44.0% | 2024 | 88.0% | 2024 | | Safe drinking water | 17.7% | 2024 | — | — | ## Education | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Adult literacy | 51.4% | 2022 | 41.6% | 2023 | | Education spending | 3.2% | 2023 | 5.3% | 2023 | | Primary enrolment | 108.0% | 2022 | 77.2% | 2024 | | Secondary enrolment | 43.6% | 2022 | 30.0% | 2024 | | Tertiary enrolment | 10.2% | 2022 | 10.0% | 2024 | ## Technology | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Internet users | 34.0% | 2024 | 28.3% | 2024 | | Mobile subscriptions | 126 | 2024 | 117 | 2024 | | High-tech exports | 30.5% | 2024 | 1.6% | 2024 | | R&D spending | — | — | 0.1% | 2024 | | Researchers (per million) | — | — | 47 | 2010 | ## Geography | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Land area | 112,760 km² | 2023 | 273,600 km² | 2023 | | Forest area | 26.5% | 2023 | 22.2% | 2023 | | Agricultural land | 41.8% | 2023 | 53.4% | 2023 | | CO₂ per capita (t) | 0.5 | 2024 | 0.3 | 2024 | | Renewable energy | 54.5% | 2021 | 71.4% | 2022 | ## Resources | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Resource rents | 2.3% | 2021 | 20.1% | 2021 | | Oil rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 0.0% | 2021 | | Mineral rents | 0.0% | 2021 | 15.5% | 2021 | | Forest rents | 2.3% | 2021 | 4.7% | 2021 | | Electricity access | 57.0% | 2023 | 21.7% | 2023 | ## Military | Metric | Benin | Observed | Burkina Faso | Observed | |---|---|---|---|---| | Military burden | 0.7% | 2024 | 4.7% | 2024 | | Defense spending | $154 M | 2024 | $1.0 B | 2024 | | Armed forces | 12,000 | 2020 | 11,000 | 2020 | Each metric is also ranked across all nations: https://terralore.co/rankings (markdown twins at /rankings/.md). Full dossiers: https://terralore.co/country/BEN.md and https://terralore.co/country/BFA.md. ## Entangled histories (0 events) Neither nation's sourced chronicle names the other — across both archives, no recorded event crosses between them. That is a fact about the two records as they stand, not a gap filled here. ## Sources - World Development Indicators — World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://data.worldbank.org - Worldwide Governance Indicators (via World Bank API) — Worldwide Governance Indicators / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/worldwide-governance-indicators - Global Health Observatory (WHO, via World Bank WDI) — WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://www.who.int/data/gho - Child mortality & immunisation estimates (UN IGME and WHO/UNICEF, via World Bank WDI) — UNICEF and WHO / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-08-10 · https://childmortality.org - R&D statistics (UNESCO UIS, via World Bank WDI) — UNESCO Institute for Statistics / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://uis.unesco.org - ICT indicators (ITU, via World Bank WDI) — ITU / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-15 · https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics - Military Expenditure Database (via World Development Indicators) — SIPRI / World Bank · CC BY 4.0 · accessed 2026-06-14 · https://www.sipri.org/databases/milex Chronicle references are cited inline above and resolve in full at https://terralore.co/country/BEN/chronicle.md and https://terralore.co/country/BFA/chronicle.md. Citation template: Terralore, "Benin and Burkina Faso compared", terralore.co/compare/ben-vs-bfa, retrieved .