Benin's forest cover fell from 42.9 % in 1990 to 26.5 % in 2023.
Benin · Environment
Forests, air quality, land, water and protected areas.
10 indicators · 10 with data
Land
Benin's forest area fell from 48,352 km in 1990 to 29,852 km in 2023.
Terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area)
% of land area
26th of 213 · 7th in Sub-Saharan Africa
Benin's terrestrial protected areas (% of total land area) rose from 29.6 % in 2013 to 36.1 % in 2025.
Benin's agricultural land (% of land area) rose from 21.2 % in 1994 to 41.8 % in 2023.
Benin's arable land (% of land area) rose from 15.1 % in 1994 to 31.4 % in 2023.
Air
Benin's air pollution (pm2.5) fell from 42.8 in 1994 to 39.7 in 2023.
Water
Benin's water stress fell from 1.4 % in 1993 to 1.3 % in 2022.
Renewable internal freshwater resources per capita
cubic metres per person
144th of 181 · 38th in Sub-Saharan Africa
Benin's renewable internal freshwater resources per capita fell from 1,754 in 1993 to 748.6 in 2022.
Access
Benin's safe drinking water rose from 14.2 % in 2000 to 17.7 % in 2024.
Benin's safe sanitation rose from 6.2 % in 2000 to 16.4 % in 2024.