The National Statistics Office of Mongolia (NSO) has published its monthly Social and Economic Situation report, which provides a comprehensive information about employment, social insurance and welfare, health, air quality, crime rate, GDP, the price of goods, transportation and more in Mongolia. The January report features a new section for observations on the average income and expenditure of households.

 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 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.

 UNEMPLOYMENT

 The latest Socio-Economic Report shows that the majority of the unemployed population, specifically 58.6 percent, is aged between 15 and 34. There were more women actively seeking a job than men -- 12,700 out of 24,200 registered job seekers are female. As of January 31, 36,000 individuals had registered at labor agencies, 24,200 people of which (67.4 percent) were actively searching for jobs while the rest were seeking a new or extra job. The number of registered unemployed people decreased by 29.2 percent (10,000 people) since January 2017 and by 12.7 percent (1,200 people) since December last year. Over the past month, 6,500 new people sought assistance from labor agencies, while 1,200 registered job seekers found jobs and 6,500 people were unregistered due to inactive search to find employment.

 HOUSEHOLD INCOME AND EXPENDITURE

The NSO report indicates that the average monthly income of a household rose by 12.9 percent compared to last year, amounting to 950,000 MNT. The main reason for the upsurge was assessed as the 10.3 percent rise (47,000 MNT) of monthly wage, and 46.6 percent increase (28,400 MNT) of agricultural production revenue. As for expenditure, NSO calculated that each household spends a million MNT a month on average, which is also higher than last year’s by 14.6 percent, or 130,900 MNT. The increased expenditure was attributed to high costs of household products and services, experts report. By the end of 2017, there were 109,500 families living with a monthly income below 300,000 MNT, 144,200 families with an income ranging between 300,000 MNT and 500,000 MNT, 289,200 families with an income ranging between 500,000 MNT and 900,000 MNT. On the other hand, 136,200 families had a monthly income of 1.1 million MNT to 1.6 million MNT, 63,200 families with 1.6 million MNT to 2.1 million MNT income, and 57,800 families with an income exceeding 2.1 million MNT. Around 73,000 families spend less than 300,000 MNT a month, 138,800 families spend around 300,000 MNT to 500,000 MNT, 280,300 families spend around 500,000 MNT to 900,000 MNT, while 146,9000 families spend around 1.1 million MNT to 1.6 million MNT, 71,200 families spend 1.6 million MNT to 2.1 million MNT, and 70,300 families spend more than 2.1 million MNT a month.

 CRIME

There were 4,019 crimes reported in January, an increase of 44.9 percent since last year. The increase was attributed to the elevation in crimes. In particular, theft went up by 674 cases (79 percent), violent crimes by 82 cases (63.6 percent), misappropriation by 43 cases (3.1 percent), robbery by 116 cases (2.9 percent), and fraud increased by 308 cases (2.5 percent). The total damage of recorded crimes was estimated 146.4 billion MNT. This is 4.5 times higher than last year’s. The amount of restituted payment was 600 million MNT, declining by 1.4 times since July 2016. Some 3,437 people were injured during crimes, out of which 152 people were minors and 1,488 were women. Police reports show that 5,999 people were held in drunk tanks, an increase of 20.1 percent compared to January 2017, and 703 people were arrested, a decline of almost 12 percent compared to last year.

 MONEY, LOAN, STOCK MARKET

According to Mongol Bank’s report, the money supply (broad money or M2) reached 15.8 trillion MNT at the end of January, showing a depreciation of 96.7 billion MNT, or 0.6 percent, since the previous month, and an increase of 3.8 trillion MNT, or 31.7 percent, compared to January 2017. As of January 31, the national currency in circulation dropped by 96.7 billion MNT due to a 9.9 percent decrease in money supply of non-bank financial institution, 6.9 percent drop in MNT trade, and five percent decline in currency deposits. The amount of outstanding loan amounted to 13.7 trillion MNT in the reference period, increasing by 41.6 billion MNT since December 2017 and by 1.3 trillion MNT since last year. The principals in arrears also rose by 13.7 percent, specifically by 112.4 billion MNT, reaching 935.8 billion MNT as of January 31. This indicator went up by 9.9 billion MNT, or one percent, compared to the same period of 2017. Non-performing loans at the level of the bank system became 1.2 trillion MNT, going up by 40.6 billion MNT, or 3.5 percent, over the past month, and rose by 137.4 billion MNT or 13 percent since last year.

 CONSUMER PRICE INDEX

Last month, the price of groceries, non-alcoholic beverages and water went up by 1.8 percent and the price of alcoholic beverages and tobacco increased by 4.6 percent, resulting in the consumer price index to rise by 1.4 percent.