Algeria's economy is controlled by its export trade in oil and natural gas. Until 1962 the economy was largely rural-based and complementary to that of France. Since freedom, production of oil and particularly natural gas has come into its own, and industrialization has proceeded rapidly.

Algeria is one of the wealthiest nations of Africa, declining oil prices reduced the annual income per capita to $1,550 in 1999, down from $2,360 in 1988. Agriculture plays a declining but still valuable role in the Algerian economy, while mineral production accounts for the largest part of the gross domestic product. Since the late 1960s the government has instituted major industrialization programs. The around annual national budget in the early 1990s included $14.4 billion in revenues and $14.6 billion in expenditures. Gross domestic product, which measures the total value of goods and services produced, was $47.9 billion in 1999.