Mongolia Export Data: $15.18B in 2023, Up 20.92%

Coal and Copper Make Up Most of What Mongolia Sells

Mongolia exported $15.18 billion worth of goods in 2023, up 20.92% from $12.56 billion in 2022. Mineral fuels, almost entirely coking coal, led every category at 61.11% of the total, worth $9.28 billion. Mongolia's coal exports jumped 110.5% year over year in 2023 to reach 66.70 million tonnes, with 99.5% of that volume delivered to China. Most of that coal moves through a handful of land border crossings, trucked or railed south into Chinese territory rather than shipped from any Mongolian port, since the country has none. Ores, slag and ash, mostly copper concentrate, added 23.67% ($3.59 billion). Mining broadly accounts for roughly 90% of Mongolia's national exports and a third of its GDP, with the Oyu Tolgoi copper and gold mine standing as the country's largest private-sector employer. Together, coal and ore alone make up close to 85% of everything Mongolia ships abroad. Oyu Tolgoi itself has moved from open-pit mining into a large underground expansion in recent years, a shift meant to keep copper and gold output climbing for decades rather than tapering off once the surface deposits run out.

Precious metals and jewelry, mostly gold, contributed 5.02% ($762.00 million). Wool, largely cashmere fiber, added 2.64% ($400.27 million). Mongolia is the world's second-largest producer of raw cashmere after China, supplying roughly 20% of global output. Millions of goats raised by herding families across the Mongolian steppe supply the raw fiber behind that industry, a very different economic base from the capital-intensive mines that dominate the rest of the export list. Salt, stone and cement products contributed 1.79% ($272.43 million), and meat added 1.13% ($171.69 million). Prepared fish and meat supplied 0.92% ($139.60 million), and fruit and nuts contributed 0.76% ($115.42 million). Copper articles added 0.71% ($107.39 million), and machinery closed out the top ten at 0.35% ($53.56 million). None of these smaller categories comes close to challenging coal and copper's grip on Mongolia's export economy.

China Buys Nine Out of Every Ten Dollars of Mongolian Exports

China bought 91.18% of Mongolia's exports in 2023, worth $13.85 billion, a level of single-country concentration that few economies in the world can match. Mongolia is landlocked between two much larger neighbors. Nearly every tonne of coal and copper it produces has to cross the Chinese border by truck or rail before reaching any port. Switzerland followed at a distant second, 4.39% ($666.31 million). Swiss refineries processed roughly 65% to 70% of the world's newly mined and recycled gold in recent years, led by four LBMA-accredited facilities: Valcambi, PAMP, Argor-Heraeus and Metalor. Mongolian gold almost certainly passes through one of those facilities on its way to global jewelry and reserve markets. That is why a country with no gold mines of its own shows up as Mongolia's second-largest buyer.

Everything past the top two is minor by comparison. South Korea bought 0.99% ($150.01 million), and Russia, Mongolia's other giant neighbor, added just 0.73% ($111.19 million). Italy contributed 0.65% ($98.99 million), and Singapore added 0.28% ($42.06 million). The USA bought 0.24% ($36.55 million), Iran contributed 0.23% ($34.76 million), an "Other Asia, nes" grouping added 0.17% ($26.48 million), and Kazakhstan rounded out the top ten at 0.15% ($22.02 million). Together, the bottom eight destinations combine for less than 3.5% of total export value, a rounding error next to China's share.

Exports Have Nearly Doubled Since 2019

Export values held flat through the pandemic before surging. The total stood at $7.62 billion in 2019 and barely moved to $7.58 billion in 2020, a milder disruption than many countries saw. That mild dip likely reflects how land-border coal shipments to China avoided the same shutdowns that hit ocean shipping elsewhere. Exports climbed to $9.24 billion in 2021, then jumped sharply to $12.56 billion in 2022 and $15.18 billion in 2023.

That four-year run means Mongolia's export total has nearly doubled since 2019, driven almost entirely by rising coal volumes crossing into China. A country this dependent on a single commodity and a single buyer carries obvious risk. Any slowdown in Chinese steel production, any disruption at the border crossings that carry Mongolian coal, or any shift in Beijing's energy policy would hit Mongolia's export figures far harder and far faster than it would almost any other economy in this database. Diversifying that customer base is a stated goal of Mongolian trade policy, but geography makes it a slow project. Mongolia is landlocked between two vastly larger neighbors, and China already absorbs the overwhelming majority of its coal and copper. Redirecting those flows toward other markets means first solving a basic problem: how to move bulk commodities out of a country with no coastline of its own.