Plugs and voltage
Benin uses Types C and E sockets. Mains supply is 220 V at 50 Hz.
At 220 V, devices made only for 100–127 V (many American and Japanese hair dryers, curling irons and some shavers) will be damaged without a step-down converter. Chargers labelled “100–240V” work fine with just a plug adapter.
Money
F CFA West African CFA Franc XOF
Average in 2025: 1 USD = 581.9 XOF (World Bank). No daily reference rate is published for this currency by the ECB; check a live rate before exchanging.
Price level 34 (US = 100, 2025)
Everyday household prices in Benin are about 34% of US prices when converted at market exchange rates: cheaper than the median country (50). All countries
Language
- Frenchofficial34%
Bars show the share of the population that speaks each language (CLDR estimates).
Time
Benin is on UTC+1, with no daylight saving time.
Driving
Traffic in Benin drives on the right, so the steering wheel is on the left.
Public holidays in the next 12 months
14 national public holidays from 2 November 2026. Banks, offices and many shops close; regional holidays are not shown. Dates marked “estimated” follow a lunar calendar and can move by a day.
December 2026
- Christmas Day
January 2027
- New Year's Day
- Vodoun Festival
- Vodoun Festival
March 2027
- Eid al-Fitr (estimated)
- Easter Monday
May 2027
- Labor Day
- Ascension Day
- Eid al-Adha (estimated)
- Pentecost Monday
August 2027
- National Day
- Prophet's Birthday (estimated)
- Assumption Day
November 2027
- All Saints' Day
Travel advisories
United States · State Department
Level 2 Exercise increased caution
Read the full advisory. Checked 2026-11-02.
United Kingdom · FCDO
- FCDO advises against all travel to parts of the country
- FCDO advises against all but essential travel to parts of the country
Updated 2025-12-15. Read the full advice. Checked 2026-11-02.
Advisories are written for each government's own citizens and change without notice: read the original before you travel.
Other practical facts
- Calling code
- +229
- Internet domain
- .bj
- Measurement
- Metric
- Paper size
- A4
- Week starts on
- Monday
- Read more
- Wikipedia
More in Western Africa
Flag: Flag of Benin.svg, Public domain. Arms: Coat of arms of Benin.svg, CC BY-SA 3.0, Tinynanorobots, Fenn-O-maniC. Electricity: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0), see methodology.
