Economy - overview:
Niger is a poor, landlocked Sub-Saharan nation, whose economy
centers on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, and 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
2000-01, the World Bank approved a structural adjustment loan of
$105 million to help support fiscal reforms. However, reforms could
prove difficult given the government's bleak financial situation.
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. Further
disbursements of aid occurred in 2002. Future growth may be
sustained by exploitation of oil, gold, coal, and other mineral
resources.
GDP:
purchasing power parity - $8.713 billion (2002 est.)
GDP - real growth rate:
2.9% (2002 est.)
GDP - per capita:
purchasing power parity - $800 (2002 est.)
GDP - composition by sector:
agriculture: 39%
industry: 17%
services: 44% (2001)
Population below poverty line:
63% (1993 est.)
Household income or consumption by percentage share:
lowest 10%: 0.8%
highest 10%: 35.4% (1995)
Distribution of family income - Gini index:
50.5 (1995)
Inflation rate (consumer prices):
3% (2002 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: $320 million - including $134 million from foreign sources
expenditures: $320 million, including capital expenditures of $178
million (2002 est.)
Industries:
uranium mining, cement, brick, textiles, food processing,
chemicals, slaughterhouses
Industrial production growth rate:
NA%
Electricity - production:
242 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - production by source:
fossil fuel: 100%
hydro: 0%
other: 0% (2001)
nuclear: 0%
Electricity - consumption:
325.1 million kWh (2001)
Electricity - exports:
0 kWh (2001)
Electricity - imports:
100 million kWh (2001)
Oil - production:
0 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - consumption:
5,000 bbl/day (2001 est.)
Oil - exports:
NA (2001)
Oil - imports:
NA (2001)
Agriculture - products:
cowpeas, cotton, peanuts, millet, sorghum, cassava (tapioca), rice;
cattle, sheep, goats, camels, donkeys, horses, poultry
Exports:
$293 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Exports - commodities:
uranium ore, livestock, cowpeas, onions
Exports - partners:
France 39%, Nigeria 33.2%, Japan 17.1% (2002)
Imports:
$368 million f.o.b. (2002 est.)
Imports - commodities:
foodstuffs, machinery, vehicles and parts, petroleum, cereals
Imports - partners:
France 16.8%, Cote d'Ivoire 14.9%, China 9.8%, Nigeria 7.4%, US
5.2%, Japan 4.6%, India 4.4% (2002)
Debt - external:
$1.6 billion (1999 est.)
Economic aid - recipient:
$341 million (1997)
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 - 696.99
(2002), 733.04 (2001), 711.98 (2000), 615.7 (1999), 589.95 (1998)
Fiscal year:
calendar year