The Mongolian economy is projected to contract by 2.4 percent in 2020 as weak external demand and COVID-19 containment measures hit the mining and services sectors especially hard, the World Bank said in the report titled “From Containment to Recovery: Economic Update for East Asia and the Pacific, October 2020.” Therefore, the country of three million will face its first recession since 2009.

However, Mongolia’s economic growth is expected to accelerate to over 5 percent in 2021 and 2022, supported by private consumption and a stronger impetus on investment in the mining and manufacturing sectors.

Mongolia’s economy decreased by 9.7 percent year on year in the first half of 2020 due to restrictive measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.