Distillers Mongolia
A one-page guide to Mongolia for the spirits trade: the country, its people, its economy and how it drinks.
At a glance
- Capital
- Ulaanbaatar
- Official languages
- Mongolian
- Currency
- Mongolian togrog (MNT)
- Time zone
- UTC+8 (UTC+7 in western aimags)
- Area
- 1,564,116 km²
People
- Population
- 3.6 million (2025)
- Population growth
- 1.2% a year
- Living in towns and cities
- 71.1%
- Aged under 15
- 31.6%
- Aged 65 and over
- 5.4%
- Life expectancy
- 72.4 years
Economy
- GDP
- US$25.4 billion (2025)
- GDP per person
- US$7,108 (2025)
- Economic growth
- 6.8% (2025)
- Inflation
- 8.6% (2025)
Climate
Extreme continental: long cold winters (January averages can fall to about -30 C) and short summers; Ulaanbaatar annual mean about -1.3 C.
Alcohol
- Alcohol is
- Legal
- Legal drinking age
- 21 (under-21s may not drink; 18 with parental consent for drinking; parents may not supply under-18s) per Wikipedia Legal drinking age
- Alcohol per adult a year
- 7.9 litres of pure alcohol (2019)
- What people drink
- Beer 29.9%, wine 20.4%, spirits 49.8% (2019)
- Traditional drinks
- Mongol arkhi (spirit distilled from fermented milk)
Sources: World Bank (population, economy and demographics), WHO Global Health Observatory (alcohol per adult and drinking mix); Mongolia (Wikipedia); Legal drinking age; World Bank country data; WHO Global status report on alcohol and health 2024 (via Wikipedia table); UN Comtrade public API, HS 2208; PwC Worldwide Tax Summaries: Mongolia - other taxes; Goods Across Borders: Mongolia allowances (secondary; cites national customs); WHO GISAH country profile - Mongolia (2018). Figures are the latest each source publishes; the year is shown beside each one.