Mongolia was hit hard by the globaleconomic recession, notably the fall in commodity prices.Gross Domestic Product (GDP) contracted by 1.6 percent in2009 after growth of 8.9 percent in 2008. The country isnarrowly specialized in production of a few primary goodswith minerals comprising 70 percent of total exports. Sincemid-2008, the prices of main export goods, including copper,zinc, crude petroleum, combed goat-down and cashmere droppedby close to or more than 50 percent, though prices of coaland gold held strong. Furthermore, construction activityfell sharply in 2009 as both the public and private sectorsreduced investments and bank loans became less accessible.The research was conducted in urban and rural areas ofMongolia and involved interviews and focus group discussionswith about500 people total (over the four rounds of datacollection) belonging to groups identified as particularlyexposed to the impacts of the crisis. The primary impacts ofthe crisis were observed through: 1) labor market effects(e.g. reduced salaries, increased discrimination in thelabor market, intensified competition for jobs and areduction in profitability of small businesses of the poor),2) price shocks, and 3) social changes (e.g. increase incrime and alcohol abuse). These impacts were particularlysignificant for the poor.
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