Quality of life comparison

compared to

If you lived in Benin instead of Papua New Guinea, you would:

Health

be 54.9% less likely to be obese

In Papua New Guinea, 21.3% of adults are obese as of 2016. In Benin, that number is 9.6% of people as of 2016.

live 7.2 years less

In Papua New Guinea, the average life expectancy is 69 years (68 years for men, 71 years for women) as of 2022. In Benin, that number is 62 years (60 years for men, 64 years for women) as of 2022.

Economy

be 45.3% less likely to be unemployed

In Papua New Guinea, 2.6% of adults are unemployed as of 2023. In Benin, that number is 1.4% as of 2023.

Life

have 43.4% more children

In Papua New Guinea, there are approximately 28.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Benin, there are 40.3 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

be 2.7 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 192.0 women per 100,000 births die during labor as of 2020. In Benin, 523.0 women do as of 2020.

be 28.7% less likely to be literate

In Papua New Guinea, the literacy rate is 64.2% as of 2015. In Benin, it is 45.8% as of 2021.

be 66.0% more likely to die during infancy

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 33.6 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2022. In Benin, on the other hand, 55.8 children do as of 2022.

Basic Needs

be 3.0 times more likely to have access to electricity

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 19% of people have electricity access (65% in urban areas, and 14% in rural areas) as of 2022. In Benin, that number is 56% of people on average (67% in urban areas, and 18% in rural areas) as of 2022.

be 57.3% more likely to have access to improved drinking water

In Papua New Guinea, approximately 48% of people have improved drinking water access (86% in urban areas, and 42% in rural areas) as of 2020. In Benin, that number is 75% of people on average (79% in urban areas, and 71% in rural areas) as of 2020.

Expenditures

spend 2.1 times more on education

Papua New Guinea spends 1.4% of its total GDP on education as of 2020. Benin spends 3.0% of total GDP on education as of 2020.

Geography

see 97.7% less coastline

Papua New Guinea has a total of 5,152 km of coastline. In Benin, that number is 121 km.

The statistics above were calculated using the following data sources: The World Factbook.

Benin: At a glance

Benin is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 110,622 sq km. Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a West African kingdom that rose to prominence in about 1600 and over the next two and half centuries became a regional power, largely based on its slave trade. Coastal areas of Dahomey began to be controlled by the French in the second half of the 19th century; the entire kingdom was conquered by 1894. French Dahomey achieved independence in 1960; it changed its name to the Republic of Benin in 1975. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged. KEREKOU stepped down at the end of his second term in 2006 and was succeeded by Thomas YAYI Boni, a political outsider and independent. YAYI, who won a second five-year term in March 2011, has attempted to stem corruption and has strongly promoted accelerating Benin's economic growth.
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How big is Benin compared to Papua New Guinea? See an in-depth size comparison.

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