The major economic activities in the Niger Delta region are hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation, oil industry, fishing, and farming. The region has been the epicenter of Nigeria's hydrocarbon activities for over six decades, with oil companies causing adverse environmental impacts through oil spillages and gas flaring.

The Niger River and its Inner Delta are vital for agriculture, livestock, fisheries, transport, energy, tourism, and water filtration, as well as as a habitat for a range of fish and other aquatic animals, including a variety of protected species.

Its vast oil and gas deposits are the mainstay of the country's economy. The region, in the southernmost part of the country, features coastal barrier islands, mangroves, freshwater swamp forests and lowland rain forests. The coast offers various ways of making a living, like fishing, tourism, producing salt, and farming coconut and bananas.