Benin: what the latest Instad data say about living conditions

An integrated survey on household living conditions, conducted by Instad in the recent period, sheds light on several structural realities of the country with regard to poverty, access to social services, and the labor market.

1. Poverty and living conditions
   Recent available statistical data indicate that more than one-third of the Beninese population lives below the monetary poverty threshold, meaning that these households do not have enough means to cover a basic basket of essential goods and services. This incidence was estimated at around 36.2% in 2022, with higher prevalence in rural areas than in urban areas.
   
   This monetary poverty situation is often accompanied by limitations in access to basic social services (such as education, health and drinking water) and difficulties in accessing stable economic opportunities.
2. Employment and the labor market
   According to available information on the Beninese labor market, the informal sector remains broadly dominant, concentrating a large part of employment in the country and characterized by high precarity. For example, previous data show that informality represented a large share of jobs created in Benin, far surpassing formal employment.
   
   This mode of employment, although it provides a source of income for a large number of households, often offers low social protection, unstable incomes and few prospects for career advancement, which fuels the economic vulnerability of many families.
3. Access to social services
   The survey notes that, despite some progress, access to essential social services remains unequal, particularly for low-income populations. This concerns education, access to care, health coverage and sanitation.
   Public programs, such as the National Health Insurance project for the strengthening of human capital (ARCH), have been established to improve access to health care and other basic social services for the most vulnerable.
   
4. A multidimensional reality
   The results of the Harmonized Household Living Conditions Survey, like other statistical works, show that poverty in Benin is not limited to insufficient income: it also manifests in unequal access to public services, the quality of education, the nutritional status of the population and the precariousness of employment.
   The survey serves as a reference tool to guide public policies and interventions in favor of the population, especially to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals related to poverty eradication and improving access to social services and to employment.