Benin

National Assembly

About parliament

Basic information such as the official name of parliament and details of its structure and leadership. Also includes the current breakdown of MPs by sex and age, and provisions for quotas and reserved seats.

Parliament name
Assemblée nationale (National Assembly)
Chamber name
Assemblée nationale (National Assembly)
Parliamentary term (years)
4

IPU membership

Affiliation periods
from 1963 to 1964
from 1981 to 1990
from 1992
IPU Geopolitical Group/s IPU Geopolitical Groups: African Group, Arab Group, Asia-Pacific Group, Eurasia Group, Group of Latin America and the Caribbean (GRULAC), Twelve Plus Group.
African Group

Speaker

Official title The Speaker may for example be known as the Presiding Officer, President, Chairman/Chairperson, etc.
President of the National Assembly
Speaker
Gbèhounou Louis Vlavonou (Male)
Year of birth
1953
Term
18.05.2015
Additional information
Elected on 18 May 2019, re-elected on 12 Feb. 2023.
See historical data for this field.

Secretary General

Official title This post is most commonly called Secretary General or Clerk. It may also be called Secretary, Head/Chief of the Secretariat, Director General, etc.
Secretary General
Secretary General
Mariano Afolabi Ogoutolou (Male)
Notes Additional information about the Secretary General, in particular regarding their term.
Appointed on 14 Aug. 2019.

Members

Statutory number of members Statutory number of members, as defined in the constitution or other fundamental law.
109
See historical data for this field. Compare data of this field.
Principal mode of designation of members
Directly elected members Directly elected by citizens.
109
Note on the statutory number of members
In accordance with article 144 of the 2019 Electoral Code, the statutory number of members has increased from 83 to 109; 24 of the 109 seats are reserved exclusively for women (art. 144).
Article 80 of the 2019 law that amended the Constitution stipulates that the term of the deputies’ mandates is five years, renewable twice.

In accordance with article 80 of the 2019 law that amended the Constitution, National Assembly members serve a five-year term instead of four, as previously. However, to organize general elections in 2026, members elected in 2023 will serve a three-year term. Their term will expire on the date when the deputies elected in January 2026 enter into office (see article 208 of the 2019 Electoral Code).
See historical data for this field.
Current number of members Number of members who currently hold seats in parliament. May be lower or higher than the statutory number of members.
109
See historical data for this field. Compare data of this field.
Men The number of male parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
80
See historical data for this field.
Women The number of female parliamentarians who currently hold seats in parliament.
29
See historical data for this field.
Percentage of women Calculated by dividing the current number of women by the current number of members.
26.61% See historical data for this field.
Statutory number of members per country As defined in the constitution or other fundamental laws. Combines the number of parliamentarians in both chambers in bicameral parliaments.
109 See historical data for this field.
Population (in thousands)
Click for historical data
See historical data for this field.

Age

Data on the age of parliamentarians is collected at the start of the legislature, following the most recent elections. This data is not updated during the legislature, except when parliament notifies the IPU of a change in the youngest or oldest member.

Average age of all members Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
53.93
See historical data for this field.
Youngest member (years) Age at the time of the last election or renewal.
Youngest member
Titilayo Adjai (Female)
Number of members, by age
Breakdown of members by age and gender
18 - 20 21 - 30 31 - 40 41 - 45 46 - 50 51 - 60 61 - 70 71 - 80 81 - 90 91 and over Totals per gender
Totals per age interval 0 0 6 19 16 41 23 4 0 0
Total <= 45: 25 Total >= 46: 84
Male 0 0 3 12 10 31 20 4 0 0 80
Female 0 0 3 7 6 10 3 0 0 0 29
Percentage of members, by age
Age as last election or renewalOverallMaleFemale
Percentage of MPs 30 years of age or younger0%0%0%
Percentage of MPs 40 years of age or younger5.5%2.75%2.75%
Percentage of MPs 45 years of age or younger22.94%13.76%9.17%
Members for whom data is available
109 See historical data for this field.

Reserved seats and quotas

There are reserved seats in parliament for certain groups Reserved seats are a means to ensure the parliamentary representation of certain groups in society.

Number of reserved seats, by group

Women
24
Electoral quota for women Quotas to promote the representation of women in parliament.
Notes
In accordance with article 144 of the 2019 Electoral Code, 24 of the 109 seats in the National Assembly are reserved for women (one seat in each of the 24 constituencies across the country).
Article 145 of the Code requires political parties to present their lists of candidates in all electoral constituencies. Each list must include the same number of candidates as there are seats to be filled, including one woman and her substitute, specially presented under the reserved seats section.
Electoral quota for youth Quotas to promote the representation of youth in parliament.