Mongolia - Economy

Economy

Economic activity in Mongolia has traditionally been based on herding and agriculture, although development of extensive mineral deposits of copper, coal, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold have emerged as a driver of industrial production. Besides mining (21.8% of GDP) and agriculture (16% of GDP), dominant industries in the composition of GDP are wholesale and retail trade and service, transportation and storage, and real estate activities. The grey economy is estimated to be at least one-third the size of the official economy. As of 2006, 68.4% of Mongolia's exports went to the PRC, and the PRC supplied 29.8% of Mongolia's imports.

Mongolia is ranked as lower middle income economy by the World Bank. 22.4% of the population lives on less than US $1.25 a day. GDP per capita in 2011 was $3,100. Despite growth, the proportion of the population below the poverty line was estimated to be 35.6% in 1998, 36.1% in 2002–2003, 32.2% in 2006.

Because of a boom in the mining sector, Mongolia had high growth rates in 2007 and 2008 (9.9% and 8.9%, respectively). In 2009, sharp drops in commodity prices and the effects of the global financial crisis caused the local currency to drop 40% against the U.S. dollar. Two of the 16 commercial banks were taken into receivership. GDP growth in 2011 was expected to reach 16.4%. However, inflation continued to erode GDP gains, with an average rate of 12.6% expected in Mongolia at the end of 2011. Although GDP has risen steadily since 2002 at the rate of 7.5% in an official 2006 estimate, the state is still working to overcome a sizable trade deficit. The Economist expects this trade deficit of 14% of Mongolia's GDP to transform into a surplus in 2013.

Mongolia was never listed among the Emerging markets countries until February 2011 when Citigroup analysts determined Mongolia to be one of Global Growth Generators countries which being countries with the most promising growth prospects for 2010–2050. The Mongolian Stock Exchange, established in 1991 in Ulan Bator, is among the world's smallest stock exchanges by market capitalisation. In 2011, it had 336 companies listed with a total market capitalization of US$2 billion after quadrupling from US$406 million in 2008. Mongolia made a significant improvement on the ease of doing business in 2012, moving up to rank 76 compared with 88 last year in the “Doing Business” report by the International Finance Corporation (IFC).