[5][needs update] In 2017, 2,116 tonnes of uranium were extracted from the Arlit mines[6] and exported to France via truck to the seaport at Cotonou, Bénin.

In the late 1980s, Arlit suffered from a steep decline in world uranium prices, and the number of foreign employees in the town was cut to 700, a drop which has rebounded by the first decade of the 21st century.

The value of Niger's uranium "boom" has never recovered its 1980s level, causing dislocation and suffering for the tens of thousands of Nigeriens who flocked to the shanty towns surrounding Arlit.

The impact on the local environment of the Arlit mining industry has been criticised by African and European Non-Governmental Organisations, and Areva NC has especially been accused of a disregard for health and environmental conditions around its operations.

[8] The French NGO Commission for Independent Research and Information on Radioactivity has described the surface nuclear waste piles near Arlit as a danger to the area's water supply.

[citation needed] Arlit has developed a first-world infrastructure and airport to serve European workers and their families, and has become a transit point for illegal immigrants attempting to travel to Algeria, and from there, France.