Agriculture, including fishing, hunting, and forestry, is the leading sector of the economy on the island of Anjouan and the Comoros. It contributes 40% to GDP, employs 80% of the labour force, and provides most of the exports. The Union is not self-sufficient in food production; rice, the main staple, accounts for the majority of imports. The government is investing in the upgrading of educational and technical training, to privatize commercial and industrial enterprises, to improve health services, to diversify exports, to promote tourism, and to reduce the high population growth rate.

The economy of Anjouan, financially perhaps the strongest of the three islands, is based on the export of vanilla, ylang-ylang, orange flowers, perfume oil and cloves. Anjouan is the world's primary producer of ylang-ylang oil, which is the core of all perfumes. Anjouan is the main provider of this oil to the great French perfumers.

Tourism is a sector of the economy which is providing a growing source of revenue. With plans to develop the tourism infrastructure, it is likely that it will, over the years, contribute more to the island's GDP.

Anjouan has no natural resources as such, although it is self-sufficient in energy, and there is a hydroelectric plant at Marahani. There are plans to construct more power plants on Anjouan, which will have a beneficial effect on employment and industry as a whole.

Being a small offshore centre, Anjouan can also afford to be flexible and proactive. It is easy and fast to get answers directly from the responsible people in government about proposed business projects. With the creation of an offshore centre, Anjouan is determined to be seen as a forward looking and fertile environment in which to do business. The newly created Offshore Finance Authority will hopefully go a long way to provide the island with new and exciting financial future.

The unit of currency in the Union is the Comoran Franc, previously linked to the French Franc and since January 1999 pegged to the Euro at the rate 491.9677 Comoran francs per euro. The Euro is commonly used in business.