Overview: About 90% of the population is engaged in farming and stock rearing, activities which generate almost half of the national income. The economy also depends heavily on exploitation of large uranium deposits. Uranium production grew rapidly in the mid-1970s, but tapered off in the early 1980s when world prices declined. France is a major customer, while FRG, Japan, and Spain also make regular purchases. The depressed demand for uranium has contributed to an overall decline in the economy, a severe trade imbalance, and a mounting external debt.

GDP: $2.2 billion, per capita $310; real growth rate - 0.7% (1987 est.)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): - 6.7% (1987)

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget: revenues $226 million; expenditures $452 million, including capital expenditures of $180 million (FY88 est.)

Exports: $371 million (f.o.b., 1988 est.); @m5commodities--uranium 76%, livestock, cowpeas, onions, hides, skins; @m5partners--NA

Imports: $441 million (c.i.f., 1988 est.); @m5commodities--petroleum products, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, electronic equipment, pharmaceuticals, chemical products, cereals, foodstuffs

External debt: $1.8 billion (December 1988)

Industrial production: growth rate 4.0% (1987 est.)

Electricity: 102,000 kW capacity; 227 million kWh produced, 30 kWh per capita (1988)

Industries: cement, brick, rice mills, small cotton gins, oilseed presses, slaughterhouses, and a few other small light industries; uranium production began in 1971

Agriculture: commercial--cowpeas, peanuts, cotton; main food crops--millet, sorghum, rice

Aid: NA

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (plural--francs); 1 CFA franc (CFAF) = 100 centimes

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (CFAF) per US$1--312.52 (January 1989), 297.85 (1988), 300.54 (1987), 346.30 (1986), 449.26 (1985)

Fiscal year: 1 October-30 September

NOTE: The information regarding Niger on this page is re-published from the 1989 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Niger Economy 1989 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Niger Economy 1989 should be addressed to the CIA.