Economy
Economy - overview: The new government has embraced free-market economics, freezing spending, easing price controls, liberalizing domestic and international trade. Mongolia's severe climate, scattered population, and wide expanses of unproductive land, however, have constrained economic development. Economic activity traditionally has been based on agriculture and the breeding of livestock. In past years extensive mineral resources had been developed with Soviet support; total Soviet assistance at its height amounted to 30% of GDP. The mining and processing of coal, copper, molybdenum, tin, tungsten, and gold account for a large part of industrial production. The dramatic drop in the price of copper which accounts for half of the country's export earnings, has held back economic growth. The Mongolian leadership also has been soliciting support from international financial agencies and foreign investors. The economy, however, has still not recovered from the loss of Soviet aid. The country continues to suffer substantial economic hardships, with one-fourth of the population below the poverty line.
GDP: purchasing power parity - $5.1 billion (1996 est.)
GDP - real growth rate: 3% (1996 est.)
GDP - per capita: purchasing power parity - $2,060 (1996 est.)
GDP - composition by sector: agriculture: 28% industry: 35% services: 37% (1993 est.)
Inflation rate - consumer price index: 53% (1996 est.)
Labor force: total: 1.115 million (mid-1993 est.) by occupation : primarily herding/agricultural
Unemployment rate: 6% (1995 est.)
Budget: revenues: $1.5 billion expenditures : $1.3 billion, including capital expenditures of $NA (1995 est.)