Over the last 25 years, Mongolia has become a vibrant democracy, with a per capita GDP tripling, an increase in school enrollment, and a dramatic decline in maternal and child mortality. Despite the current context, with its vast agricultural and mineral resources and an increasingly educated population, Mongolia's long-term development prospects are promising. Despite a significant decline in agricultural output due to adverse weather conditions, the economy achieved strong growth of 7.1% in 2023. This growth was primarily fueled by coal mining and related transportation services, with coal exports reaching unprecedented levels, surging by 91% compared to the pre-pandemic 2018-2019 average. In 2024, economic growth is expected to remain robust but moderate compared to the previous year, reaching 4.8%. This moderation is mainly due to a notable decline in the agriculture sector resulting from the dzud weather phenomenon, characterized by extreme cold and heavy snowfall. However, growth in the services and mining sectors is projected to continue, albeit at a slower pace (World Bank).
The fiscal balance achieved a surplus of 2.6% of GDP, fueled by strong revenue collection from rising coal exports and a flourishing economy. Consequently, public debt decreased to 44.1% of GDP by the end of 2023 (excluding the Bank of Mongolia's swap agreement with the People's Bank of China). Deficits in the fiscal and current account balances are projected to reemerge in 2024. This is anticipated as coal exports normalize, export commodity prices decline, elevated government spending persists, and demand for imports increases. Headline inflation dropped to 7.9% year-on-year in December 2023, down from 16.9% in June 2022, boosting household purchasing power and incomes. This decline was driven by slower inflation in imported goods, attributed to easing supply bottlenecks, transportation costs, international energy and food prices, and exchange rate depreciation. Fiscal expansion and increasing household incomes are anticipated to fuel inflationary pressures in 2024. The supply-side shock resulting from the anticipated agricultural contraction is expected to elevate domestic food inflation, pushing average headline inflation to 8.5% in the outlook, slightly exceeding the central bank's upper target of 8% (data World Bank).
Although the unemployment rate decreased to 5.4% in 2023 (from 6.2% one year earlier), the labor market continues to lag behind the pre-pandemic period, characterized by modest employment growth and a reduced labor participation rate. With increasing wages and pensions, the poverty rate, measured at the lower-middle-income poverty line, is expected to decrease from 2.1% in 2023 to 1.9% in 2024. Poverty reduction was unequal as rural areas benefited more than urban areas amid higher livestock prices and stagnant wage growth in cities. The World Bank estimated the country’s GDP per capita (PPP) at USD 14,260 in 2022.
Main Indicators | 2022 | 2023 (E) | 2024 (E) | 2025 (E) | 2026 (E) |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
GDP (billions USD) | 17.15 | 19.86 | 21.94 | 23.51 | 25.38 |
GDP (Constant Prices, Annual % Change) | 5.0 | 7.0 | 6.5 | 6.0 | 5.5 |
GDP per Capita (USD) | 4,959 | 5,668 | 6,182 | 6,542 | 6,976 |
General Government Gross Debt (in % of GDP) | 64.5 | 48.0 | 47.9 | 47.9 | 48.1 |
Inflation Rate (%) | 15.2 | 10.3 | 9.7 | 10.0 | 8.9 |
Current Account (billions USD) | -2.30 | 0.25 | -1.66 | -2.16 | -2.29 |
Current Account (in % of GDP) | -13.4 | 1.2 | -7.5 | -9.2 | -9.0 |
Source: IMF – World Economic Outlook Database - October 2021.
Note: (e) Estimated Data
Monetary Indicators | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Mongolian Tugrik (MNT) - Average Annual Exchange Rate For 1 MUR | 60.22 | 70.76 | 72.86 | 75.03 | 71.50 |
Source: World Bank - Latest available data.
Breakdown of Economic Activity By Sector | Agriculture | Industry | Services |
---|---|---|---|
Employment By Sector (in % of Total Employment) | 24.3 | 20.9 | 54.8 |
Value Added (in % of GDP) | 13.2 | 37.0 | 38.9 |
Value Added (Annual % Change) | 12.0 | -2.8 | 5.5 |
Source: World Bank - Latest available data.
Socio-Demographic Indicators | 2024 (e) | 2025 (e) | 2026 (e) |
---|---|---|---|
Unemployment Rate (%) | 5.4 | 5.0 | 5.0 |
Source: IMF – World Economic Outlook Database - Latest available data
2018 | 2019 | 2020 | |
---|---|---|---|
Labour Force | 1,334,951 | 1,405,185 | 1,422,476 |
Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database
2017 | 2018 | 2019 | |
---|---|---|---|
Total activity rate | 62.89% | 63.62% | 66.34% |
Men activity rate | 69.55% | 72.04% | 74.06% |
Women activity rate | 56.42% | 55.45% | 58.87% |
Source: International Labour Organization, ILOSTAT database
The Economic freedom index measure ten components of economic freedom, grouped into four broad categories or pillars of economic freedom: Rule of Law (property rights, freedom from corruption); Limited Government (fiscal freedom, government spending); Regulatory Efficiency (business freedom, labour freedom, monetary freedom); and Open Markets (trade freedom, investment freedom, financial freedom). Each of the freedoms within these four broad categories is individually scored on a scale of 0 to 100. A country’s overall economic freedom score is a simple average of its scores on the 10 individual freedoms.
Economic freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Index of Economic Freedom, Heritage Foundation
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The Indicator of Political Freedom provides an annual evaluation of the state of freedom in a country as experienced by individuals. The survey measures freedom according to two broad categories: political rights and civil liberties. The ratings process is based on a checklist of 10 political rights questions (on Electoral Process, Political Pluralism and Participation, Functioning of Government) and 15 civil liberties questions (on Freedom of Expression, Belief, Associational and Organizational Rights, Rule of Law, Personal Autonomy and Individual Rights). Scores are awarded to each of these questions on a scale of 0 to 4, where a score of 0 represents the smallest degree and 4 the greatest degree of rights or liberties present. The total score awarded to the political rights and civil liberties checklist determines the political rights and civil liberties rating. Each rating of 1 through 7, with 1 representing the highest and 7 the lowest level of freedom, corresponds to a range of total scores.
Political freedom in the world (interactive map)
Source: Freedom in the World Report, Freedom House
The world rankings, published annually, measures violations of press freedom worldwide. It reflects the degree of freedom enjoyed by journalists, the media and digital citizens of each country and the means used by states to respect and uphold this freedom. Finally, a note and a position are assigned to each country. To compile this index, Reporters Without Borders (RWB) prepared a questionnaire incorporating the main criteria (44 in total) to assess the situation of press freedom in a given country. This questionnaire was sent to partner organisations,150 RWB correspondents, journalists, researchers, jurists and human rights activists. It includes every kind of direct attacks against journalists and digital citizens (murders, imprisonment, assault, threats, etc.) or against the media (censorship, confiscation, searches and harassment etc.).
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Latest Update: May 2024