The National Institute of Statistics and Economic Analysis (INSAE) proceeded, during this month of June 2018, to the establishment of a new base year for the national accounts of Benin. This change in the base year of GDP responds, on the one hand, to the need to migrate the methodology for preparing the accounts to the recent standards of the system of national accounts (SNA 2008) and, on the other hand, to provide a better description of economic activity. It also allows Benin to comply with best practices which recommend changing the base year of national accounts every five (05) or ten (10) years in order to correct errors in annual estimates and / or arbitrations carried out.

The choice of the new base year 2015 to replace 2007 is also justified by the desire to take into account the results of two major surveys which have highlighted profound changes in the structures of employment and final consumption in Benin.

In addition to conceptual changes, the new database incorporates methodological revisions as well as new data sources to improve GDP coverage and update on the structure of the economy.

In addition, the rebasing of Benin’s GDP is part of the dynamic initiated at the continental level for the implementation of the 2008 SNA, following the example of countries such as Cameroon (increase of 8% of GDP), Kenya (increase of 25% of GDP), Nigeria (increase of 60% of GDP) and Senegal (increase of 30% of GDP).

The new method, which is being finalized, has already made it possible to revalue upward the Gross Domestic Product for 2015 by more than 36%. Benin’s GDP for this year would thus increase from 4,926 billion CFA francs in the old base to more than 6,722 billion CFA francs at current prices in the new base. This fairly substantial increase is essentially the result of an improvement in the coverage of economic activity, especially at the informal level, and the implementation of the changes introduced by the 2008 SNA.