More than half of young adults have considered emigrating, mostly to escape economic hardship or to find work.
Key findings
- Beninese youth (aged 18-35) are more educated than older generations. More than half (56%) have completed secondary or post-secondary education, compared to 21%-37% of older adults. But 22% of youth still lack formal schooling.
- Youth face higher rates of unemployment. More than half (51%) are unemployed and actively seeking work, compared to 29%-31% of middle-aged adults.
- Aside from the country's general economic situation and scarcity of jobs, youth cite a lack of adequate training, an unwillingness to take certain types of jobs, and a lack of experience required by employers as their most important barriers to employment.
- Given their choice of jobs, most youth (68%) would start their own business, while fewer would choose a public-sector position (18%) or go to work for a private company (7%).
- If the government could increase its spending on programmes to help youth, job creation would be young people's top priority for greater investment, followed by job training and business loans.
- Water supply is the most important problem the government must address, according to youth, followed by unemployment, infrastructure/roads, health, electricity, and the increasing cost of living.
- Youth offer mixed assessments of the government's performance on their priority issues, ranging from just 13% approval on keeping prices stable to 67% approval on improving basic health services.
- Majorities of young citizens see the country's economic situation (57%) and their personal living conditions (58%) as bad. But half (49%) think the country is heading "in the right direction." And optimists outnumber pessimists (49% vs. 30%) in their expectations for the coming year.
- More than half of young Beninese (55%) have considered emigrating, including 30% who say they have given it "a lot" of thought. o Their main motivations are to escape economic hardship or poverty (46%) and to find work (34%).
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About two-thirds of Benin's population is under the age of 25, making youth a critical demographic for the country's economic future. While young people constitute a significant portion of the workforce, the African Development Bank (2024) highlights that despite Benin's ongoing economic growth, job creation has not kept pace with the rising number of youth entering the labour market - a common challenge across Africa.
Analysts say that weak transitions from education to employment result in many young people being excluded from meaningful economic participation. As a result, about 14% of youth in Benin fall into the "not in education, employment, or training" (NEET) category, contributing to youth poverty and social vulnerability (Danish Trade Union Development Agency, 2025).
Challenges that young Beninese face in employment, education quality, health, and civic participation are reflected in the 2023 Global Youth Development Index, where the country ranks 155th out of 183 nations (Commonwealth, 2023).
The Beninese government launched a National Youth Employment Strategy for 2023-2027 that focuses on promoting youth entrepreneurship, especially in agriculture, agribusiness, and the digital economy. The plan also seeks to expand vocational training, improve access to microfinance, and support business incubation programmes, aiming to build a skilled and productive youth workforce essential for national development (Bossuroy, & Vaillant, 2022).
The Afrobarometer Round 10 survey (2024) offers some insights into the situation of Benin's youth. Findings show that although young people have higher educational attainment than older generations, they are significantly more likely to be unemployed. Youth priorities for additional government investment centre on job creation, vocational training, and access to business loans.
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Unemployment ranks high among the most important problems that young people want the government to address, along with water supply, infrastructure/roads, health, and electricity supply.
In their economic assessments, young Beninese are largely gloomy, though half think the country is on the right track and optimists outnumber pessimists when it comes to expectations for the near future. Still, more than half have considered emigration, mostly to escape economic hardship and find work.
Stephen Quansah is a PhD student in political science and a graduate research assistant at the Department of Political Science, University of Florida.
