The Institut national de la statistique et de la démographie (INStaD – Benin’s national statistics institute) released its foreign trade bulletin for the second quarter on 17 August 2026, confirming that cotton, the country’s so‑called white gold, remains the main engine of exports despite an overall drop in sales.
According to the figures communicated by INStaD for the second quarter of the current fiscal year, the total value of Beninese merchandise exports fell by 18.4 % compared with the previous quarter, while year‑on‑year growth reached 59.3 %.
The same release states that the overall value of goods sold abroad came to 188,844.9 million CFA francs over the period, driven primarily by shipments of raw, non‑carded, non‑combed cotton.
Cotton cements its position as Benin’s top export
Detailed quarterly statistics show that raw cotton remains Benin’s leading export product, generating receipts of 63.6 billion CFA francs for a volume of 67,730 tonnes, ahead of edible tree nuts and soybeans.
Analytical notes from the French Ministry for the Economy on Benin’s foreign trade likewise underline that cotton fibre has for several years been the country’s main export product, with Asian markets – especially Bangladesh and India – concentrating the bulk of these flows.
A trade balance still dependent on agro‑exports
In the product breakdown, edible nuts generated second‑quarter export revenues of 27.1 billion CFA francs, while soybeans and oilcakes accounted for 18 billion CFA francs, underscoring the dominant weight of agricultural value chains in Benin’s trade balance.
Aggregated figures used by regional chambers of commerce recall that Benin’s trade deficit narrowed in 2024, but that its export structure remains heavily skewed toward agricultural raw materials, with raw cotton as the leading source of foreign‑currency earnings.
Economic services attached to the French Treasury note that, despite a generally favourable macroeconomic environment, Benin has posted a structurally negative trade balance for more than twenty years, largely due to low industrial diversification and reliance on imports of manufactured goods.
Asia strengthens its role as the main outlet for white gold
On a geographic basis, the INStaD bulletin shows that Asia absorbed 57.5 % of Benin’s total export value in the second quarter, with Bangladesh alone taking 31.7 % of sales, mostly raw cotton, while India consolidates its position as the second‑largest buyer.
Annual trade reports recall that in 2023 Benin’s main cotton customers were already located in Asia, including Bangladesh, India and Pakistan, confirming that export outlets are concentrated among a limited number of buyers.
Imported rice and structural deficit: policy choices ahead
On the import side, foreign purchases increased by 3.7 % over the quarter to reach 488,238.2 million CFA francs, driven by semi‑milled rice, which ranked as the top import item with an outlay of around 100 billion CFA francs, supplied mainly by India.
The Banque Centrale des États de l’Afrique de l’Ouest notes that the trade balance, defined as the difference between exports and imports of goods, remains a key indicator of external imbalances and weighs on countries’ financing trajectories when deficits persist.
Against this backdrop, plans to move up the value chain, including textile parks and industrial zones dedicated to cotton processing, are presented by several Beninese economic stakeholders as a way to capture more value locally and reduce the trade balance’s exposure to volatility in global fibre prices.
Next INStaD quarterly bulletin in focus for cotton stakeholders
With INStaD now committed to publishing regular quarterly bulletins on foreign trade, as illustrated by the report already available for the first quarter of 2024, cotton‑sector operators and development partners will be watching for the release of the next bulletin, expected around mid‑November, to gauge whether white gold’s current dominance in export earnings is sustained over time.