Niger Export Data: $467.43M in 2023, Up 10.41%

Uranium Dominates Niger's Exports, Though 2023 Marked a Turning Point

Niger exported $467.43 million worth of goods in 2023, up 10.41% from $423.35 million in 2022, though still well below the $737.12 million peak reached just two years earlier in 2021. Ores, slag and ash led every category by a wide margin, at 43.72% of the total, worth $204.38 million. This category is driven mainly by uranium. Niger ranks ninth globally in cumulative uranium production, and Orano historically operated the Somair mine at Arlit as France's primary uranium supplier from the country. France bought 44.32% of Niger's exports in 2023, worth $207.16 million, more than any other country, a relationship built substantially on this uranium trade.

Following the July 2023 military coup, exports of Somair's uranium production reportedly ceased, with the mine later nationalized. That reported halt sits awkwardly alongside the full-year 2023 export figures, which closely track independent trade estimates for France's uranium purchases from Niger. This suggests shipments made earlier in the year, before the coup, still dominate the annual total even after exports reportedly stopped in the second half. The underlying trade data reported here does not resolve exactly how much of the annual figure came from each half of the year, only that the full-year total remained close to what independent estimates would suggest for a normal year of uranium shipments.

A Domestic Refinery and Precious Metals Round Out the List

Mineral fuels supplied 18.40% of exports, worth $86.02 million. Niger's Soraz refinery, a joint venture with China's CNPC based in Zinder, has a capacity of roughly 20,000 barrels a day, processing domestic crude and exporting refined surplus, mainly to Nigeria. A larger pipeline project connecting Niger's Agadem oil field directly to the coast of Benin was still ramping up its export volumes well after 2023, so it was not yet the main driver behind this category's export figures for the year covered here. That pipeline, once fully operational, has the potential to push Niger's mineral fuel exports well beyond what the Soraz refinery alone could ever supply. It taps into oil reserves far larger than what one small domestic refinery can process.

Natural pearls, precious stones and precious metals supplied 23.72% of exports, worth $110.88 million, Niger's second-largest category, likely including a meaningful share of gold. The United Arab Emirates ranked second among Niger's export partners overall at 21.33% ($99.68 million). The UAE imported 748 tonnes of gold from Africa in 2024, cementing its position as the primary global destination for African gold, including gold sourced through informal and artisanal channels. That regional pattern makes the UAE a plausible destination for at least part of Niger's precious metals trade, though the exact composition of this category is not broken out in the underlying data. Some of this trade likely reflects gold mined artisanally rather than through large industrial operations. That pattern is common across the wider Sahel region, where formal mining infrastructure remains limited outside a handful of major projects.

Onions Travel Regionally While France and the Gulf Dominate Sales Further Afield

Vegetables supplied 3.54% of exports ($16.57 million), a category dominated by onions. The "Violet de Galmi" onion variety became Niger's second most important export product after uranium starting in the 1990s, and Niger remains the region's largest onion exporter, sending most of its export volume to Ghana. Ghana ranked eighth among Niger's export partners overall at 2.42% ($11.32 million), a relationship built substantially on this onion trade. Mali added 10.87% ($50.80 million), and Burkina Faso contributed 7.58% ($35.45 million), both close Sahelian neighbors with deep regional trade ties to Niger that predate any recent political developments in the region. Together these two neighbors alone account for close to a fifth of Niger's total export value. That underscores how much smaller, landlocked economies in this part of West Africa depend on each other for everyday commerce, even as their largest single revenue sources point toward Europe and the Gulf.

Chad supplied 3.52% ($16.44 million), and Nigeria added 3.08% ($14.38 million), likely tied to the same refined fuel exports covered above. South Africa contributed 2.51% ($11.73 million), and Germany added 1.22% ($5.71 million). Benin rounded out the top ten at 1.11% ($5.18 million). Together, France, the UAE and Mali made up 76.51% of total export value, one of the most concentrated top-three shares in this entire dataset. Export values swung sharply over the past five years. The total climbed steadily from $695.92 million in 2019 to $706.39 million in 2020 and $737.12 million in 2021, before dropping sharply to $423.35 million in 2022 and partially recovering to $467.43 million in 2023.