Zou: population, health, schools, water and power, living standards and local budgets

Zou is a department of Benin, number 5 of 12 by population. Zou had 851,580 residents at the 2013 General Population and Housing Census (RGPH4), 8.5% of Benin's 10.01 million; 5th largest of the 12 departments. This is the latest official count by department: the fifth census has not yet published results.

In depth

• Economy, jobs and prices in Zou: 60.5% of people in Zou lived in a home with electricity (from the grid or off-grid sources such as solar) in 2021-2022, 6th highest of the 12 departments (Benin: 56.5%).
• Health in Zou: For every 1,000 babies born in Zou in the five years before the 2021-2022 MICS, 70 died before their first birthday and 104 before their fifth; the under-five rate is 2nd highest of the 12 departments (Benin: 45 and 80). Department rates rest on fewer births and are less precise.
• Education in Zou: 85.4% of primary-school-age children in Zou were attending school in 2021-2022 and 14.1% were out of school; attendance is 4th highest of the 12 departments (Benin: 75.3% and 24.5%).
• Poverty and living standards in Zou: 17.0% of people in Zou belonged to the poorest fifth of Benin's households by household assets in 2021-2022, and 34.1% to the poorest two fifths (each fifth holds 20% of the country); its share in the poorest fifth is 5th lowest of the 12 departments.
• Government budget and revenue in Zou: The communes of Zou had 5,615 CFA francs of revenue per inhabitant in 2025, including 1,251 CFA francs of local taxes, 900 CFA francs of other own revenue and 3,395 CFA francs of transfers; 4th highest of the 10 departments in the table (all communes: 6,600 CFA francs). Couffo and Mono are not in the Treasury's table.

More figures

• In INStaD's 2021-2022 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS), weighted to the national population, 8.9% of Benin's household population lived in Zou (2013 census: 8.5%). Source: Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INStaD), with UNICEF (copy kept by the WHO/UNICEF JMP) · saved copy

How departments are governed in Benin

Departments (12). Prefect appointed by central government. State administration and legal oversight (tutelle) of the communes; not an elected local government.

Every tier of government in Benin

Other departments of Benin

• Atlantique 1,398,229
• Borgou 1,214,249
• Ouémé 1,100,404
• Alibori 867,463
• Atacora 772,262
• Couffo 745,328
• Collines 717,477
• Littoral 679,012
• Plateau 622,372
• Donga 543,130
• Mono 497,243

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Sources

• Direction Générale du Trésor et de la Comptabilité Publique (DGTCP), Ministry of Economy and Finance: Note de conjoncture des finances locales, exercice budgétaire 2025 (March 2026): Table 11, commune budgets per inhabitant by department, and local investment by department, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 8cc614c1e0f4…)
• Institut National de la Statistique et de la Démographie (INStaD), with UNICEF (copy kept by the WHO/UNICEF JMP): Enquête par grappes à indicateurs multiples (MICS6-Bénin) 2021-2022, Rapport des résultats de l'enquête (revised December 2023): department rows of Tables SR.2.1, SR.2.3, SR.6.1W, CS.2, TM.2.1, TM.3.3, TM.4.2, TM.6.1, TM.6.2, TC.1.2, TC.6.7, TC.8.1, LN.2.3, LN.2.7, LN.4.1, PR.1.1, PR.2.1, PR.3.3, PR.4.1W, PR.7.1W, WS.1.2, WS.3.2 and DV.2.2, read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b47fa901f5ed…)
• Institut National de la Statistique et de l'Analyse Économique (INSAE, now INStaD) with ICF (The DHS Program): Enquête Démographique et de Santé au Bénin 2017-2018 (EDSB-V), final report: Annex Table A.1, population by department and area of residence from the 2013 census (RGPH4), read 27 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 b16170e42e03…)

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