Poverty & Equity Brief
East Asia & Pacific
Mongolia
April 2022
Mongolia's national poverty headcount rate in 2020 was 27.8 percent, 0.6 percentage points lower than in 2018. While
estimates show that poverty in 2020 was slightly lower than it was in 2018, the COVID-19 pandemic has sharply slowed down
the pace of poverty reduction. Simulations indicate that had the COVID-19 pandemic not occurred, the poverty rate may have
declined by an additional 3.5 percentage points in 2020. The wide array of COVID-19 relief packages, including top-ups of
existing social assistance programs, likely played a crucial role in preventing a rise in poverty between 2018 and 2020.
After the first quarter of 2021, private consumption has started to rebound and labor force participation rate has gradually
improved from its lowest level in a decade. However, output and jobs had not returned to pre-pandemic levels by Q4 2021 and
the recovery might be uneven across sectors. According to the latest business registry database, 2 in 5 business entities in
industry and non-public service sectors remained inactive in Q4 2021 while public administration, education and health sectors
were less affected. Despite the extension of government COVID-19 support to households, recent food price inflation, reaching
20 percent in February 2022, could further slowdown the pace of recovery, particularly among poor urban households who
spend nearly 40 percent of their consumption on food.
Between 2014 and 2018, annualized per-capita consumption growth rates were negative both for the total and bottom 40
percent of households since household consumption in 2018 had not fully recovered after contracting sharply during the
economic recession in 2016. By contrast, annualized per-capita GDP growth remained positive in the same period. This is
mainly due to a significant discrepancy in levels and growth rates of household consumption between household surveys and
national accounts. While economic growth has fluctuated, overall, inequality as measured by the Gini index has remained
stable, between 32-34, since 2010.
Number of Poor Rate
POVERTY (thousand) (%)
Period
National Poverty Line 911.4 27.8 2020
International Poverty Line
15.7 0.5 2018
1856.5 in Mongolian togrog (2018) or US$1.90 (2011 PPP) per day per capita
Lower Middle Income Class Poverty Line
159.6 5.0 2018
3126.7 in Mongolian togrog (2018) or US$3.20 (2011 PPP) per day per capita
Upper Middle Income Class Poverty Line
857.8 27.1 2018
5374.1 in Mongolian togrog (2018) or US$5.50 (2011 PPP) per day per capita
Multidimensional Poverty Measure 1.7 2018
SHARED PROSPERITY
Annualized Consumption Growth per capita of the bottom 40 percent -3.70 2014-2018
INEQUALITY
Gini Index 32.7 2018
Shared Prosperity Premium = Growth of the bottom 40 - Average Growth -0.55 2014-2018
GROWTH
Annualized GDP per capita growth 2.34 2014-2018
Annualized Consumption Growth per capita from Household Survey -3.15 2014-2018
MEDIAN INCOME
Growth of the annual median income/consumption per capita -3.41 2014-2018
Sources: WDI for GDP, National Statistical Offices for national poverty rates, POVCALNET as of April 2022, and Global Monitoring Database for the rest.
Poverty Economist: Ikuko Uochi
POVERTY HEADCOUNT RATE, 2010-2020 INEQUALITY TRENDS, 2010-2018
Gini Index
40.0
45 14
40 35.0
12
35 30.0
10
30 25.0
25 8
20.0
20 6
15.0
15
4
10.0
10
2 5.0
5
0 0 0.0
2010 2012 2014 2016 2018 2020 2010 2012 2014 2016 2018
Poverty International Poverty Line Lower Middle IC Line GDP per capita,
rate Upper Middle IC Line National Poverty Line $ 2017 PPP
(%) GDP (Thousand)
Source: World Bank using HSES/EAPPOV/GMD Source: World Bank using HSES/EAPPOV/GMD
KEY INDICATORS
Lower Middle Income line(%) Relative group (%)
Distribution among groups: 2018 Multidimensional Poverty Measures: 2018 (% of population)
Non-Poor Poor Bottom 40 Top 60
Urban population 94 6 38 62 Monetary poverty (Consumption)
Rural population 96 4 44 56 Daily consumption less than US$1.90 per person 0.5
Males 95 5 40 60
Females 95 5 40 60 Education
0 to 14 years old 93 7 50 50 At least one school-aged child is not enrolled in school 3.2
15 to 64 years old 96 4 36 64 No adult has completed primary education 2.7
65 and older 98 2 22 78
Without education (16+) 92 8 58 42 Access to basic infrastructure
Primary education (16+) 94 6 47 53 No access to limited-standard drinking water 13.0
Secondary education (16+) 95 5 40 60 No access to limited-standard sanitation 10.4
Tertiary/post-secondary education (16+) 99 1 18 82 No access to electricity 0.2
Source: World Bank using HSES/EAPPOV/GMD Source: World Bank using HSES/EAPPOV/GMD
Notes: N/A missing value, N/A* value removed due to less than 30 observations
POVERTY DATA AND METHODOLOGY
The National Statistical Office (NSO) and the World Bank have been collaborating in developing poverty measurement and estimating poverty rates since 2002. The
Household Socio-Economic Survey (HSES) is the official survey for monitoring household welfare and poverty as well as key socio-economic indicators in Mongolia. The
HSES has been implemented biennially since 2012. The current national poverty line in Mongolia is derived from the 2010 HSES using the cost of basic needs approach
and the 2020 national poverty line is estimated at 184,747 MNT per person per month. Official poverty rates have been reported at the national, urban/rural and aimag
level, estimated as a share of the population that has consumption below the national poverty line.
In line with international best practices, a new consumption module was introduced into the 2020 HSES to better reflect current consumption patterns. In order to
restore comparability of the 2020 household consumptions and poverty rates to previous survey years, the 2020 poverty was simulated based on the SWIFT (Survey of
Well-being via Instant and Frequent Tracking) Plus survey-to-survey imputation approach.
The international poverty lines are set by the World Bank for global poverty monitoring. Purchasing Power Parity exchange rates (PPPs) are used to put consumption
estimates into internationally comparable terms.
HARMONIZATION
The numbers presented in this brief are based on the EAPPOV database. EAPPOV is a database of socio-economic statistics constructed using microdata from household
surveys in the East Asia and the Pacific (EAP) region and is managed by the East Asia & Pacific Team for Statistical Development (EAPTSD). As of January 2022, the
collection includes 21 countries and 114 surveys. Harmonized surveys in the EAPPOV database are compiled into 4 modules following Global Monitoring Database
(GMD) Harmonization guidelines. A subset of the harmonized variables form the basis of the GMD collection, including the welfare aggregate which is used for Global
Poverty Monitoring. Terms of use of the data adhere to agreements with the original data producers.
East Asia & Pacific povertydata.worldbank.org
Mongolia www.worldbank.org/poverty