8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Asia / Eastern Asia

Born in Mongolia

About 1 in 2,032 people born in 2023 started life in Mongolia. A boy can expect to live 67 years and a girl 76, up from 36 and 42 in 1950. Most people live in cities, and 85% have basic drinking water.

1 in 2,032
odds of being born here
65,000 births · Ranked 121st of 230
67 / 76
years of life, boys / girls
Was 36 / 42 in 1950
$5,542
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 111th of 203 · extrapolated
70%
live in a city
The rest live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 33 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 304 in every 1,000 births to 13.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

020406080195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
0100200300400195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth67.2 years for boys, 76.4 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 512.8 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year20,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people4.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles96%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.1%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year448 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.5 children on average in 1950. Now it is 2.7.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman2.69UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth29.3 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 40 and the poorest fifth 8.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
8%Poorest fifth
13%Second
17%Middle
23%Fourth
40%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $5,542 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth40% / 8% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment5.2% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises10.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person6.0% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming28% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed41% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment97% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Ulan Bator, with 844,818 people.

70%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
85%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Ulan Bator844,818
Erdenet97,814
Darhan83,883
Choibalsan44,835
Nalayh39,579
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Mongolian93%
Kazakh7%
Chinese1%
Mongolian is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Ulaanbaatar884,397
Orhon97,814
Darhan Uul83,883
Övörhangay57,344
East Aimak44,835
Selenge Province41,571
Khövsgöl Province39,404
Central Aimak33,906
Bayankhongor30,931
Uvs Province30,092

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

All 20 regions
  • Ulaanbaatar884,397
  • Orhon97,814
  • Darhan Uul83,883
  • Övörhangay57,344
  • East Aimak44,835
  • Selenge Province41,571
  • Khövsgöl Province39,404
  • Central Aimak33,906
  • Bayankhongor30,931
  • Uvs Province30,092
  • Hovd29,800
  • Bayan-Ölgii Province28,400
  • Ömnögovĭ24,863
  • Hentiy22,741
  • Arkhangai Province21,620
  • East Gobi Aymag19,891
  • Sühbaatar18,190
  • Govi-Altai Province17,617
  • Bulgan17,348
  • Dzabkhan16,265

People on the move

About 5.0% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are Kazakhstan, South Korea, Japan.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
Kazakhstan75,801
South Korea45,698
Japan20,179
Residents born abroad0.6% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 5.0% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostKazakhstan (75,801), South Korea (45,698), Japan (20,179)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $557.7 million a year (2025)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

100% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 27%.

100%
of older people receive a pension (2021)
27%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 20242,136Our World in Data, from WHO
Significant earthquakes recorded since 19501; the deadliest, in 1957, killed about 30 people (magnitude 8.1)NOAA NCEI

Now live it.

Born in Mongolia, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Mongolia

Elsewhere in Asia

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences