The annual Mongolian livestock census started on 7 December and is still underway; initial information, however, indicates that there are currently 70.9 million livestock in the country. The figures, provided by the  National Statistical Office of Mongolia, report  an increase by 4.5 million animals or 6.8 percent. Among them, there are: 4.2 million horses, 4.7 million cattle, 472.4 thousand camels, 32.2 million sheep, and 29.2 million goats.

Sheep account for 45.5 percent in the total number of livestock, with goats for 41.2 percent, cattle for 6.7 percent, horse for 5.9 percent, camels for 0.7 percent. This shows that the proper ratio set at 75:25 between sheep and goat has been lost with a ratio of 52:48 of this year with the high number of goats causing negative impacts on the environmental sustainability.

Also, the census found that there are about 285.6 thousand livestock herders in Mongolia; 40 percent of them are dependent on loans.

In 2018, the total number of livestock animals in Mongolia reached 66.5 million, increasing by 241.2 thousand or 0.4 percent compared to the previous year 2017. The 2018 census also showed that 68.4 percent of all 290 thousand herders were covered by health insurance and 26.2 percent by social insurance.