The economy of Niger is based largely upon internal markets, subsitance agriculture, and the export of raw commodities: food stuffs to neighbors and raw minerals to world markets. Niger, over the past two decades, has consistently been ranked near or at the bottom of worldwide indexes of the Human development index, GDP, and percapita income. Economic activity centres on subsistence agriculture, animal husbandry, re-export trade, and export of uranium.

The 50% devaluation of the West African CFA franc in January 1994 boosted exports of livestock, cowpeas, onions, and the products of Niger's small cotton industry.

Exports of cattle to neighboring Nigeria, as well as Groundnuts and their oil remain the primary non-mineral exports. The government relies on bilateral and multilateral aid - which was suspended briefly following coup d'états in 1996 and 1999 - for operating expenses and public investment. Short-term prospects depend on continued World Bank and IMF debt relief and extended aid. The post 1999 government has broadly adhered to privatisation and market deregulation plans instituted by these funders.

Overall Niger's economy is based largely on subsistence crops, livestock, and some of the world's largest uranium deposits. Drought cycles, desertification, a 3.4% population growth rate and the drop in world demand for uranium have undercut an already marginal economy. Traditional subsistence farming, herding, small trading, and informal markets dominate an economy that generates few formal sector jobs. Between 1988 and 1995 28% to 30% of the total economy of Niger was in the unregulated Informal sector, including small and even large scale rural and urban production, transport and services.

External trade and investment
Of Niger's exports, foreign exchange earnings from livestock, although impossible to quantify, are second only to those from uranium. Actual exports far exceed official statistics, which often fail to detect large herds of animals informally crossing into Nigeria. Some hides and skins are exported and some are transformed into handicrafts.

Economic growth
After the economic competitiveness created by the January 1994 CFA franc devaluation contributed to an annual average economic growth of 3.5% throughout the mid-1990s, the economy stagnated due the sharp reduction in foreign aid in 1999, which gradually resumed in 2000, and poor rains in 2000. Reflecting the importance of the agricultural sector, the return of good rains was the primary factor underlying a projected growth of 4.5% for 2001.