If you lived in Benin instead of Marshall Islands, you would:

Health

be 70.8% less likely to be obese

In Marshall Islands, 42.0% of adults are obese as of 2024. In Benin, that number is 12.2% of people as of 2024.

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live 6.1 years less

In Marshall Islands, the average life expectancy is 67 years (65 years for men, 69 years for women) as of 2024. In Benin, that number is 61 years (60 years for men, 62 years for women) as of 2024.

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see 84.2% less spent on your healthcare

Marshall Islands spends $874 per person on healthcare as of 2023 (international dollars, adjusted for prices). Benin spends $138 as of 2023.

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have 35.6% less access to essential health services

Marshall Islands scores 59 out of 100 on the universal health coverage index as of 2021. Benin scores 38 as of 2021.

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Economy

be 5.0 times more likely to live below the poverty line

In Marshall Islands, 7.2% live below the poverty line as of 2019. In Benin, however, that number is 36.2% as of 2021.

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make 80.5% less money

Marshall Islands has a GDP per capita of $8,489 as of 2025, while in Benin, the GDP per capita is $1,658 as of 2025.

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Life

have 66.4% more children

In Marshall Islands, there are approximately 20.1 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024. In Benin, there are 33.4 babies per 1,000 people as of 2024.

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be 3.3 times more likely to die during childbirth

In Marshall Islands, approximately 155.0 women die from pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 live births as of 2023. In Benin, 518.0 women do as of 2023.

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be 46.3% less likely to be literate

In Marshall Islands, the literacy rate is 95.8% as of 2021. In Benin, it is 51.4% as of 2022.

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be 99.1% more likely to die during infancy

In Marshall Islands, approximately 22.7 children (per 1,000 live births) die before they reach the age of one as of 2024. In Benin, on the other hand, 45.2 children do as of 2024.

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Basic Needs

be 43.0% less likely to have access to electricity

In Marshall Islands, approximately 100% of people have electricity access (100% in urban areas, and 100% in rural areas) as of 2023. In Benin, that number is 57% of people on average (70% in urban areas, and 44% in rural areas) as of 2023.

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be 48.5% less likely to have internet access

In Marshall Islands, approximately 65.9% of the population has internet access as of 2024. In Benin, about 34.0% do as of 2024.

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be 20.4% less likely to have access to drinking water

In Marshall Islands, approximately 87% of people have access to drinking water (86% in urban areas, and 94% in rural areas) as of 2024. In Benin, that number is 70% of people on average (76% in urban areas, and 63% in rural areas) as of 2024.

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Expenditures

spend 58.1% less on education

Marshall Islands spends 7.7% of its total GDP on education as of 2022. Benin spends 3.2% of total GDP on education as of 2023.

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spend 75.1% less on healthcare

Marshall Islands spends 13.4% of its total GDP on healthcare as of 2023. In Benin, that number is 3.3% of GDP as of 2023.

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Geography

see 67.3% less coastline

Marshall Islands has a total of 370 km of coastline. In Benin, that number is 121 km.

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Safety

be 2.1 times more likely to die in a road accident

In Marshall Islands, road accidents kill 11.9 people per 100,000 as of 2021. In Benin, they kill 24.8 per 100,000 as of 2021.

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Infrastructure

find 88.1% less home broadband

Marshall Islands has 2.4 fixed broadband subscriptions per 100 people as of 2022. Benin has 0.3 as of 2024.

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Sources: World Bank (2019–2025), United Nations SDG Indicators (2021), World Health Organization (2024), The World Factbook. How we calculate this

Benin: At a glance

Benin is a sovereign country in Africa, with a total land area of approximately 110,622 sq km. Present day Benin was the site of Dahomey, a West African kingdom that rose to prominence in about 1600 and over the next two and half centuries became a regional power, largely based on its slave trade. Coastal areas of Dahomey began to be controlled by the French in the second half of the 19th century; the entire kingdom was conquered by 1894. French Dahomey achieved independence in 1960; it changed its name to the Republic of Benin in 1975. A succession of military governments ended in 1972 with the rise to power of Mathieu KEREKOU and the establishment of a government based on Marxist-Leninist principles. A move to representative government began in 1989. Two years later, free elections ushered in former Prime Minister Nicephore SOGLO as president, marking the first successful transfer of power in Africa from a dictatorship to a democracy. KEREKOU was returned to power by elections held in 1996 and 2001, though some irregularities were alleged. KEREKOU stepped down at the end of his second term in 2006 and was succeeded by Thomas YAYI Boni, a political outsider and independent. YAYI, who won a second five-year term in March 2011, has attempted to stem corruption and has strongly promoted accelerating Benin's economic growth.
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How big is Benin compared to Marshall Islands? See an in-depth size comparison.

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