The National Statistics Office of Mongolia (NSO) has outlined key changes in the social and economic situation of Mongolia in its latest monthly Social and Economic Report. The report analyzes the preliminary performance last year. POPULATION  Based on preliminary results, Mongolia’s population became 3.2 million by the end of 2017, up by 59,800 people, or 1.9 percent, compared to 2016. At national level, 75,734 Mongolian babies were born within the country and 1,406 babies overseas. The birth rate and death rate both went down, by 4.6 percent and 2.1 percent respectively. Last year, 3,648 fewer babies were born and 340 fewer people died compared to the previous year, according to NSO report. The crude birth rate per 1,000 capita was measured at 23.8 and death rate at fire, indicating that the birth rate per 1,000 capita dropped by 16 live births per 1,000 individuals and death rate by two deaths per 1,000 individuals over the past year.    UNEMPLOYMENT  The latest labor force survey reported that 28,600 more people found jobs by the end of 2017. As of December 31, 37,100 individuals had registered at labor agencies, 72.6 percent of which, or 25,500 people, were actively searching for jobs while the rest were seeking a new or extra job. The number of registered unemployed people decreased by 26 percent (9,000 people) since 2016, but increased by 13.5 percent (1,300 people) from November to December. The latest Socio-Economic Report shows that the majority of the unemployed population, specifically 13,500 out of 25,500 registered job seekers, are female. Over the last 12 months, 93,300 new people sought assistance from labor agencies, while 28,600 registered job seekers found jobs and 73,700 people were unregistered due to inactive search for employment.  SOCIAL INSURANCE AND WELFARE The top five changes in the social insurance and welfare category are:

1. The revenue of the social insurance fund reached 2.1 trillion MNT in 2017, up by 13 percent, specifically by 243.1 billion MNT compared to last year.
2. The General Authority for Health and Social Insurance of Mongolia analyzed that the upsurge in the revenue attributed to the increased revenues of pension insurance fund, which rose by 163.8 billion MNT, and health insurance fund, which increased by 43.7 billion MNT.
3. The expenditure of the social insurance fund rose by 5.8 percent, increasing by 103.9 billion MNT to 1.9 trillion MNT, as last recorded on December 31.
4. The main cause of the increase is speculated to be the 6.4 percent rise in pension insurance spending and 7.6 percent increase in health insurance spending despite the 9.8 percent decrease in the insurance coverage of industrial accidents and occupational diseases and 9.9 percent reduction of unemployment insurance fund spending. The expenditure of pension insurance escalated by 85.7 billion MNT and health insurance expenditure by 20.8 billion MNT, while insurance expenditure for industrial accidents and occupational diseases dropped by 4.8 billion MNT and unemployment insurance fund spending went down by 3.8 billion MNT
5. Over the past 12 months, 257.7 billion MNT was distributed as cash allowances for over 1.07 million children.

HEALTH During the past 12 months, 73,884 women gave birth to 74,328 babies, which indicates that the numbers of pregnant women and live births decreased by five percent and 4.9 percent respectively. Infant mortality rate per 1,000 live births and under-five mortality remain at 14 and 17. Maternal mortality rate was recorded 18 as of December 2017, which is lower by 18 mothers than the same period of the previous year. The maternal mortality rate per 100,000 births also decreased by 22, becoming 27 mothers per 100,000 births. Last year, more than 44,300 cases of communicable disease were reported, which is 25,363 cases, or 36.4 percent, lower compared to 2016. Patients affected with measles decrease by 30,256 people (99.9 percent), those with tuberculosis by 266 people (6.6 percent), those with hepatitis by 32 people (5.7 percent), and patients with trichomoniasis became fewer by 124 people (2.8 percent). However, the number of patients suffering from dysentery increased by 2,809 (41.4 percent), patients with hand-foot-and-mouth disease by 482 (8.7 percent), and patients with gonococcal infection increased by 79 (5.7 percent). EDUCATION NSO underlined that a record number of people enrolled in schools of all levels at the start of the academic year of 2017-2018. In particular, over 1.02 million children started their studies for primary, secondary and higher education on September 1, 2017, and statistics indicate that this is a 2.8 percent upsurge compared to the previous academic year enrolment rate. Currently, 256,700 children are attending 1,416 kindergartens in Mongolia. NSO reported that the number of kindergartens increased by 62 (4.6 percent), accommodating 13,300 (5.5 percent) more children. Twenty new general education schools opened in the academic year 2017-2018, totaling the number of general schools in Mongolia to 798 schools. The number of primary and secondary education students rose by 20,800 to 572,800 students. However, the number of higher education students dropped by 1.2 percent to 155,200 students, according to NSO. The graph below shows the changes in the gross enrolment rate of Mongolia since the academic year of 2007 to 2008.