Citizen support for democracy in Benin
Benin: Citizen support for democracy was 0.3831 in 2020. ◆ Volatile
Citizen support for democracy in Benin, 2005–2020
Source: Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
Analysis
The most recent figure for citizen support for democracy in Benin is 0.3831, measured in 2020.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 1.7% on the previous year and down 8.7% over ten years.
Over the whole period, citizen support for democracy in Benin peaked at 0.7167 in 2014 and was at its lowest, -0.0147, in 2005.
That places Benin 36th out of 144 countries with data for 2020, putting it in the top quarter.
The series is highly variable year to year, so single readings are best treated with caution.
Citizen support for democracy in Benin, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 2005 | -0.0147 | — |
| 2006 | 0.0584 | -497.8% |
| 2007 | 0.1347 | +130.8% |
| 2008 | 0.2128 | +57.9% |
| 2009 | 0.3187 | +49.8% |
| 2010 | 0.4197 | +31.7% |
| 2011 | 0.5252 | +25.1% |
| 2012 | 0.586 | +11.6% |
| 2013 | 0.6494 | +10.8% |
| 2014 | 0.7167 | +10.4% |
| 2015 | 0.6099 | -14.9% |
| 2016 | 0.4991 | -18.2% |
| 2017 | 0.3874 | -22.4% |
| 2018 | 0.3916 | +1.1% |
| 2019 | 0.3899 | -0.4% |
| 2020 | 0.3831 | -1.7% |
Benin compared with similar countries
- Benin's 0.3831 is above the median for lower middle income countries, which is -0.6191. (35 countries reporting)
- Benin's 0.3831 is above the median for Sub-Saharan Africa, which is 0.019, 20.2× the median. (34 countries reporting)
Biggest year-on-year movements
Years where Citizen support for democracy in Benin changed far more than this series normally does. A large move can be a real event or a change in how the figure was measured — the source note below says who published it.
| Year | Change | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | +497.8% | -0.0147 | 0.0584 |
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000s | 0.142 | -0.0147 | 0.3187 | 5 |
| 2010s | 0.5175 | 0.3874 | 0.7167 | 10 |
| 2020s | 0.3831 | 0.3831 | 0.3831 | 1 |
Countries ranked near Benin
More social development data for Benin
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 16,974 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1,279 (2025)
- Political Rights Rating 4 (2025)
- Electoral democracy 0 (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, annual growth rate 0 % change on previous year (2025)
- Political rights rating fh, gaps filled 4 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0001 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 1,279 (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0.0011 units per person (2025)
- Refugees under the mandate of the UNHCR by country or territory of 0 units per US$ of GDP (2025)
Frequently asked questions
- What is citizen support for democracy in Benin?
- Citizen support for democracy in Benin was 0.3831 in 2020, according to Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data.
- What is the highest citizen support for democracy recorded in Benin?
- The highest recorded value was 0.7167 in 2014.
- What is the lowest citizen support for democracy recorded in Benin?
- The lowest recorded value was -0.0147 in 2005.
- How does Benin rank for citizen support for democracy?
- Benin ranks 36th out of 144 countries with data for 2020.
- Is citizen support for democracy rising or falling in Benin?
- Over the last ten years it is down 8.7%. The long-run trend across the full record is volatile.
- Where does this Benin data come from?
- The figures come from Claassen (2022) – processed by Our World in Data, published as part of Citizen support for democracy. Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
Download this data
CSV · JSON — 16 observations, free to reuse under CC BY 4.0 (Our World in Data).
About this data
Central estimate of the average extent to which citizens support a democratic political system and reject autocratic alternatives. It combines responses across more than one thousand nationally-representative surveys on how desirable citizens find democracy, how they evaluate undemocratic alternatives (such as a strong unelected leader, the army, or religious authorities), and how they assess democratic and autocratic political systems relative to another.