Mongolia Economy

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia, bordering Russia on the north and China on the south, east and west. At 1,564,116 square kilometers (603,909 sq mi) and with a population of around 2.9 million people, Mongolia is the world’s 19th largest and the most sparsely populated independent country. About 20% of the country’s population lives on less than US$1.25 per day.[br]

Mongolia is a landlocked country in East and Central Asia, bordering Russia on the north and China on the south, east and west. At 1,564,116 square kilometers (603,909 sq mi) and with a population of around 2.9 million people, Mongolia is the world’s 19th largest and the most sparsely populated independent country. About 20% of the country’s population lives on less than US$1.25 per day.[br]

 

Before early 1990s, Mongolia’s main support was Russia, which abruptly stopped its aid after the disintegration of USSR. For the next decade, Mongolia suffered deep recession, following which it has made substantial progress with reforms, adoption of free-market economic structure and privatization of the formerly state-run economy. 

Mongolia Economy: Mongolian Economic Profile

Mongolia’s economy is based on agriculture and mining. Mongolia is rich in copper, gold, coal, molybdenum, fluorspar, uranium, tin and tungsten deposits, which has been attracting foreign direct investment. As a result, copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten and gold account for a large part of industrial production.

 

While in the early 1990s the main sector was animal husbandry, the biggest turn around for the past five years has happened in the services sector. In 1997, Mongolia joined the World Trade Organization (WTO) with an aim to expand its participation in regional economic and trade regimes. In 2007, Mongolia’s GDP growth shot up to 9.9 %, reflecting rapid growth from 2006 when it stood at 8.6%. Economic growth has been primarily driven by agriculture and services.

 

Mongolia’s GDP (purchasing power parity):

 

• $8.542 billion (2007)

• $9.612 billion (2008 est.)

• $9.459 billion (2009 est.)

   

The following data maps the performance of various sectors in the GDP as of 2009:

 

• Agriculture: 21.2%

• Industry: 29.5%

• Services: 49.3%[br] 

Of 2, 700,000 (as of January 2009), labor force stood at 1.068 million as of 2008 and was occupied in the three main sectors as follows:

 

• Agriculture: 34%

• Industry: 5%

• Services: 61%

   

The country’s inflation rate (consumer prices) stood at:

• 4.2% (2009 est.)

• 28% (2008 est.) 

Mongolia’s currency is tögrög/tugriks (MNT), whose exchange rate in relation to the US dollar stood at:

 

• 2009 – 1,442.8,

• 2008 – 1,267.51

• 2007 – 1,170