Report by the WTO Secretariat

Since its previous Review in 2014, Mongolia has maintained a generally open trade regime, and the economy expanded between 2014 and 2019. In 2019, the economy grew by 5.1%, with an improvement in the fiscal balance and an increase in both reserves and GDP per capita. However, affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, exports declined by 40% year-on-year in the first quarter of 2020, and the economy contracted 9.7% in the first half of 2020. Inflation progressed slowly, reflecting an increase in food and utilities prices. The unemployment rate has decreased since 2016, and stood at 7.8% in 2018. Exports, imports, and FDI grew between 2017 and 2019. Mongolia was ranked 92nd overall in the 2019 United Nations Development Programme Human Development Index, up from 108th in 2012. In terms of value-added, the share of services has declined since 2016, to account for 44.8% of GDP in 2019. The share of mining has increased since 2015 to reach 26.0% of GDP in 2019, and that of manufacturing has increased to 10.5%. The share of services in total employment increased to 53.1% in 2019, while that of agriculture decreased to 25.3%.