Niger Economy 2001

Economy - overview: Niger is a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, reexport trade, and increasingly less on uranium, because of declining world demand. The 50% devaluation of the West African franc in January 1994 boosted exports of livestock, cowpeas, onions, and the products of Niger's small cotton industry. The government relies on bilateral and multilateral aid - which was suspended following the April 1999 coup d'etat - for operating expenses and public investment. In 2000, the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of $35 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation.

GDP: purchasing power parity - $10 billion (2000 est.)

GDP - real growth rate: 3.5% (2000 est.)

GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $1,000 (2000 est.)

GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 40%
industry: 18%
services: 42% (1998)

Population below poverty line: 63% (1993 est.)

Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1995)

Inflation rate (consumer prices): 2.8% (2000 est.)

Labor force: 70,000 receive regular wages or salaries

Labor force - by occupation: agriculture 90%, industry and commerce 6%, government 4%

Unemployment rate: NA%

Budget:
revenues: $377 million, including $146 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $377 million, including capital expenditures of $105 million (1999 est.)

Industries: uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing, chemicals, slaughterhouses

Industrial production growth rate: NA%

Electricity - production: 200 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
nuclear: 0%
other: 0% (1999)

Electricity - consumption: 401 million kWh (1999)

Electricity - exports: 0 kWh (1999)

Electricity - imports: 215 million kWh (1999)

Agriculture - products: cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice; cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry

Exports: $385 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Exports - commodities: uranium ore 65%, livestock products, cowpeas, onions (1998 est.)

Exports - partners: France 45%, Nigeria 27%, UK 11% (1999)

Imports: $317 million (f.o.b., 1999)

Imports - commodities: consumer goods, primary materials, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals

Imports - partners: France 22%, Cote d'Ivoire 15%, Nigeria 8%, US 3% (1999)

Debt - external: $1.3 billion (1999 est.)

Economic aid - recipient: $341 million (1997)
note: the IMF approved a $73 million poverty reduction and growth facility for Niger in 2000 and announced $115 million in debt relief under the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative

Currency: Communaute Financiere Africaine franc (XOF); note - responsible authority is the Central Bank of the West African States

Currency code: XOF

Exchange rates: Communaute Financiere Africaine francs (XOF) per US dollar - 699.21 (January 2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.70 (1999), 589.95 (1998), 583.67 (1997), 511.55 (1996); note - from 1 January 1999, the XOF is pegged to the euro at a rate of 655.957 XOF per euro

Fiscal year: calendar year

NOTE: The information regarding Niger on this page is re-published from the 2001 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Niger Economy 2001 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Niger Economy 2001 should be addressed to the CIA.