Entrepreneursand Gender

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND
2023
GENDER
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
Ж Е Н Д Э Р И Й Н М Э Д Р Э AND
МЖТЭЙ
GENDER
Б И З Н Е С 2023
ЭРХЛЭЛТ 2021
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by National Statistics Office of Mongolia. л с ы н т о о л л о г ы н д ү н д суурилав.
Ulaanbaatar
Улаанбаатар хот
2023
2022 оны 6 дугаар сар
HHA 65.290-2
ДАА 650
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Report written by:
Lakshmi.B Director General of the Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center, PhD Candidate
Tungalag.E Researcher of the Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center
Oyunbileg.D Head of the Business Registration and Census Division of the Census and Data Analysis
Department, National Statistics Office
Narangerel.G Consultant, PhD Candidate of the Department of Political Science, International Relations and
Public Administration, National University of Mongolia
Dr. Ankhbayar.B Consultant, Gender Equality Research Program Coordinator, Mitchell Foundation for Arts and
Sciences
NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE

Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar
Sukhbaatar district, Baga Toiruu
Government Building - 3
1900-1212
www.nso.mn, www.1212.mn
[email protected]
Report design and data visualization were created in Tungaahui Data Studio.
ISBN 978-9919-9907-2-5
FOREWORD
The National Statistics Office (NSO) has successfully organized and presented the
results of the 2021 Enterprise Census in accordance with the Statistics Law of Mon-
golia. The 2021 Enterprise Census is unique in that it provides gender-disaggregated
business data while meeting its primary goal of creating a comprehensive database
of business owners.
This research report thematically presents the results of the 2021 Enterprise Census,
classified by gender or by gender of directors of enterprises. Also, the data of the enter-
prise owners classified by gender was compiled and compared by merging the census
database and the Legal Entity Database of the General Authority for State Registration.
Preparation of this research report was supported by the "Central Asia Women in Busi-
ness" programme of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).
This program is being implemented to support women entrepreneurs in Central Asia to
create a favorable business environment and provide technical assistance simultane-
ously in Tajikistan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Mongolia.
The regional webinar was successfully organized to exchange experience in forming

and analyzing gender-disaggregated statistics on May 18, 2022, within the framework
of the program of the EBRD, and initiated by the NSO, in cooperation with the Finan-
cial Initiative for Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi) and the Economic
Policy and Competitiveness Research Center (EPCRC). In the webinar, the statistical
institutions of Mongolia, Georgia, Moldovia, and Ireland exchanged their experiences
in compiling gender-disaggregated statistical data, shared information, and created
an effective partnership. Moving on, we will focus on expanding gender-disaggregated
statistics by improving gender statistics and consolidating databases of related orga-
nizations.
I would like to express my gratitude to EBRD’s "Central Asia Women in Business" pro-
gramme for their support in the development of the research report, the researchers
of the EPCRC and the staff of the Census and Data Analysis Department of the NSO.
I would also like to thank Tungaahui Data Studio team for creating the report design
and data visualization.
We believe that the results of the research will be used as a source for further detailed
gender analysis and the development of gender-sensitive policies and programs to
improve the business environment.
BATDAVAA BATMUNKH
CHAIRMAN
NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 3

CONTENTS
1 CONCEPTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 21
2 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 29
3 BUSINESS ECONOMIC CAPACITY AND GENDER 55
4 SKILLS IN BUSINESS AND GENDER 77
5 TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, R&D AND GENDER 93
6 BUSINESS PROSPECTS, ATTITUDES AND GENDER 113
4
FOREWORD 3
LIST OF FIGURES 6
ABBREVIATIONS 11
INTRODUCTION 12
SCOPE, DEFINITIONS AND UNDERSTANDINGS 14
SUMMARY 16
1.1 Gender and gender policy 22

1.2 Gender-sensitive business policy 24
1.3 Gender statistics of entrepreneurship 25
2.1 Basic indicators of entrepreneurship 30

2.2 Measuring gender differences in key indicators of entrepreneurship 38
3.1 Business income generation and gender differences 56

3.2 Business financing, investment and gender differences 68
4.1 Gender differences in the workplace 78

4.2 Gender differences in average wages 88
5.1 Technology use and gender differences 94

5.2 Innovation adoption and gender differences 100
5.3 R&D and gender differences 106
6.1 Entrepreneurship challenges and gender differences 114

6.2 Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and gender differences 118
6.3 Business prospects, attitudes and gender differences 122
CONCLUSION 124
RECOMMENDATION 128

LIST OF FIGURES
1. CONCEPTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER
Figure 1. Scope of the research �� 14
Figure 2. Classification by gender �� 15
2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER
Figure 3. The total number of enterprises included in the census, by years �� 30
Figure 4. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens, by legal type, 2021��
2021�� 31
Figure 5. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens, by activity, 2021 �� 32
Figure 6. Number of non operating enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens, by reasons, 2021 �� 33
Figure 7. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by region �� 33
Figure 8. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by ownership �� 34
Figure 9. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by activity �� 34
Figure 10. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolia citizens operating in 2020, by the period of operation �� 35
Figure 11. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolia citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees �� 36
Figure 12. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolia citizens operating in 2020, by sales income group �� 37
Figure 13. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens, by gender of the director, by female owners, by activity, by
percentage, 2021 �� 39
Figure 14. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by legal type, by gender of the director, by percent-
age �� 40
Figure 15. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by ownership, by gender of the director, by percentage
�� 40
Figure 16. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by legal type, by female owner, by percentage �� 41
Figure 17. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by ownership, by female owner, by percentage �� 41
Figure 18. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by region, by gender of director, by female owner,
by percentage �� 42
Figure 19. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by provinces and the Capital, by gender of director,
by percentage �� 43
Figure 20. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector, by gender of the director, by
percentage �� 46
Figure 21. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector, by female owner, by percentage 47
Figure 22. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector, by gender of director, by female
owner, by percentage��
percentage�� 48
Figure 23. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by number of employees, by gender
6
of director, by female owner, by percentage �� 49
Figure 24. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income group, by gender of
director, by female owner, by percentage��
percentage�� 50
Figure 25. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by duration of operation, by gender
of director, by female owner, by percentage �� 51
Figure 26. Who are the entrepreneurs? �� 52
3. BUSINESS ECONOMIC CAPACITY AND GENDER
Figure 27. Total sales income of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by gender of director, by
female owner �� 57
Figure 28. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income group, by gender of
director, by female owner, by percentage �� 58
Figure 29. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income group, by sector, by
male director, by percentage��
percentage�� 60
Figure 30. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income group, by sector, by
gender of director, by female owner, by percentage �� 61
Figure 31. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by duration of operation, by sales
income group, by sector, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage �� 62
Figure 32. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by premises ownership of production
and services, by gender of director, by percentage��
percentage�� 64
Figure 33. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income group, by premises
ownership of production and services, by gender of director, by percentage �� 65
Figure 34. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by whether they export products or services,
by gender of the director, by female owner �� 67
Figure 35. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by loan, by gender of the director, by female
owner, by percentage �� 69
Figure 36. Number of enterprises with loans managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees group,
by gender of the director, by female owner, by percentage��
percentage�� 70
Figure 37. Number of enterprises with loans managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sales income group, by gender
of the director, by female owner, by percentage �� 71
Figure 38. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by loan origination, by gender of the director,
by female owner, by duplicated number, by percentage �� 72
Figure 39. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by reason of non granted loan, by gender of
the director, by female owner, by duplicated number, by percentage �� 73
Figure 40. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by foreign investment, by gender of the
director, by female owner, by percentage �� 74
Figure 41. Percentage of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens with foreign investment in 2020, by percentage of foreign
investment, by gender of the director, by female owner, by percentage �� 75

4. SKILLS IN BUSINESS AND GENDER
Figure 42. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees, by gender of
employees �� 78
Figure 43. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by gender of employees, by gender of direc-
tors, by female owner �� 79
Figure 44. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees group, by sector, by
male director, by percentage��
percentage�� 80
Figure 45. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees, by sector, by female
director, by female owner, by percentage��
percentage�� 81
Figure 46. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees group, by gender of
employees, by gender of director, by female owner �� 82
Figure 47. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees group, by gender of
employees, by gender of director, by female owner, by region��
region�� 83
Figure 48. Gender ratio of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by region �� 84
Figure 49. Gender ratio of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by legal type �� 85
Figure 50. Proportion of male and female employees among the total employees of enterprises with male directors managed by
Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector��
sector�� 86
Figure 51. Proportion of male and female employees among the total employees of enterprises with female directors managed by
Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector��
sector�� 87
Figure 52. Average salary of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by gender of employees,
by gender of director, thousand MNT �� 89
by gender of director, by number of employees group, thousand MNT �� 90
by gender of director, by sales income group, thousand MNT��
MNT�� 91
5. TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, R&D AND GENDER
Figure 55. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of computers and smart devices
in their operations, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage��
percentage�� 94
Figure 56. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employess that use com-
puters and smart devices regularly, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage �� 95
Figure 57. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by percentage of use of computers and
smart devices, by number of employees by group, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage �� 96
Figure 58. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by percentage of use of computers and
smart devices, by sales income group, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage �� 97
Figure 59. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of network for operation, by gen-
der of director, by female owners, by percentage �� 99
Figure 60. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by regular use of internet for operation,
by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage��
percentage�� 99
8
Figure 61. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of database for operation, by
gender of director, by female owners, by percentage �� 99
Figure 62. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of server for operation, by gender
of director, by female owners, by percentage��
percentage�� 99
Figure 63. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2018-2021, by percentage of new or signifi-
cantly improved product and service innovations introduced in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owners��
owners�� 100
Figure 64. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2018-2021 and introduced business pro-
cess innovation, by type of innovation, by gender of director, by female owners, by duplicated numbers, by percentage
percentage 101
Figure 65. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that introduced new or significantly improved product and
service innovations in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owners, by sector �� 102
Figure 66. Cost of innovation activities in 2020 of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2018-2021, by gender
of director, by female owner, billion MNT �� 104
Figure 67. Cost of innovation activities in 2020 for per enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2018-2021, by
gender of director, by female owner, million MNT �� 105
Figure 68. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that conducted R&D in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by
female owners, by percentage �� 106
Figure 69. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that conducted R&D in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by
female owners, by sector, by duplicated number��
number�� 107
Figure 70. The number of R&D work in 2020 done by enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that conducted R&D in 2018-
2021, by gender of director, by female owners �� 108
Figure 71. The cost of R&D work in 2020 done by enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that conducted R&D in 2018-2021,
by gender of director, by female owners �� 108
Figure 72. The expense of R&D per enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by gender of director, by female owners,
million MNT��
MNT�� 109
Figure 73. Share of 2020 expenses to sales revenue of per enterprise managed by a Mongolian citizen operating in 2018-2021, by
gender of director, by female owner��
owner�� 109
Figure 74. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2018-2021 and carried out R&D work in
2018-2020, by gender of director, by sector �� 110
Figure 75. The number enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that introduced ISO standard in 2020, by gender of director, by
sector �� 110
Figure 76. The number enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that carried operation to support sustainable development
goals in 2020, by gender of director, by sector��
sector�� 111
6. BUSINESS PROSPECTS, ATTITUDES AND GENDER
Figure 77. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated continuously for 2 consecutive years before the census:
How did the production and service volume of your enterprise change compared to the first 9 months of 2020?��
2020?�� 114
How did the income of your enterprise change compared to the first 9 months of 2020?��
2020?�� 115
How did the customer order size of your enterprise change compared to the first 9 months of 2020?��
2020?�� 116

How did the number of employees of your enterprise change compared to the first 9 months of 2020?��
2020?�� 117
How did your enterprise operate during the strict lockdown? �� 119
How did the Covid-19 pandemic affected your enterprise operation in the first 9 months of 2020?��
2020?�� 119
What was the difficulties and problems to your enterprise during strict lockdown?��
lockdown?�� 120
What is the business expectation of your enterprise for the coming year?��
year?�� 122
What priority actions should be taken at the level of government policy for the development of enterprises?��
enterprises?�� 123
10
ABBREVIATIONS
EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

EPCRC Economic Policy and Competitiveness Research Center
GDP Gross domestic product
JSC Joint stock company
LLC Limited liability company
MNT Mongolian Tugrug
MTA Mongolian Tax Authority
NBFI Non-Bank Financial Institutions
NSO National Statistics Office
R&D Research and development
SCC Savings and Credit Cooperatives
SME Small and medium enterprise
SOE State owned enterprise
We-Fi Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative

INTRODUCTION
Entrepreneurs are a major force behind new ideas, creative solutions, and
value creation in any economy. Studying the business environment and cre-
ating an accurate database is the basis for assessing economic potential,
determining future prospects and opportunities, and implementing optimal
policies.
The business sector reaches and affects all groups of the population through
many factors such as products, services, technology, and jobs. Therefore,
gender equality is a topic that must be carefully considered in this context
to improve the business environment, ensure equal participation, and enjoy
equal benefits.
In order to measure entrepreneurship in a gender-disparate manner, it is

necessary to solve two problems, such as to define entrepreneurship by
gender and to generate gender-disaggregated data on entrepreneurship.
There is currently no legal definition of ‘entrepreneurship by gender’ in Mon-

golia. Although there are organizations that compile, report, and use data
and statistics related to entrepreneurship, they differ in methodology and
definition, making it difficult to create and use consolidated gender-disag-
gregated database.
One of the main sources of the most comprehensive collection of busi-

ness-related data and official statistics is the Enterprise Census conducted
every 5 years by the NSO. The 2021 Enterprise Census disaggregated the
broad data by gender and by gender of company director, creating the first
gender-disaggregated business sector database.
In this research, the gender-disaggregated data of the 2021 Enterprise Cen-

sus was presented in detail, and it was aimed to clarify and identify exis-
tence of gender differences. Within the scope of the research, by merging
the database of the census and the database of the Legal Entity Database
of the General Authority for State Registration, data classified by gender of
the enterprise owner was compiled and compared. The data was analyzed
and classified by one gender, i.e. 51% or more owned by women, and 33.4%
or more owned by women and with a female director.
12
The research, based on the data classified by gender of entrepreneurship,
intended to clarify the gender differences in following 5 areas.
1. Entrepreneurship and gender

2. Business economic capacity and gender
3. Skills in business and gender
4. Technology, innovation, R&D and gender
5. Business prospects, attitudes and gender
If the definition of entrepreneurship by gender is created in the legal envi-

ronment, it becomes the basis to create consolidated database. It enables
more detailed gender analysis to be done, as more comprehensive gen-
der-disaggregated databases become available.

SCOPE, DEFINITIONS AND UNDERSTANDINGS
ABOUT THE ENTERPRISE CENSUS
The purpose of Enterprise Census is to generate source of information necessary for policies and decisions, based
on determining the direction and location of the work and services of enterprises, organizations and self-employed
persons registered to operate in the territory of Mongolia, and their impact on the economy and society.
NSO has organized the Enterprise Census a total of 7 times in 1991, 1994, 1998, 2006, 2011, 2016, and 2021. The
regular enterprise census for 2021 was held across the country from November 1 to December 3, 2021, and census
data was collected through an electronic survey.
SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH
The 2021 Enterprise Census included enterprises, organizations and self-employed persons of all types of ownership
throughout Mongolia. However, within the framework of this research, "Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens"
were studied. Furthermore, the enterprises referred to in this research report will be the enterprises managed by a
citizen of Mongolia.
Figure 1. Scope of the research
180 006 53 927
ENTERPRISE, SELF-EMPLOYED
ORGANIZATION PERSON
147 399 4 158 4 597 23 852
ENTERPRISE ENTERPRISE Government Non-Government

(Managed by (Managed by organization organization
Mongolian foreign citizen)
citizen)
COMPANY PARTNERSHIP COOPERATIVE STATE OWNED ENTERPRISE,

(JSC, LLC) LOCAL STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE
14
DATA CLASSIFIED BY GENDER OF ENTREPRENEURS
This research report presented the experimentally derived gender statistics based on gender-classified data of the
enterprise directors, owners, and employees, by consolidating enterprise census database with the Legal Entity Reg-
istration database.
When analyzing the data, it was classified by one gender, where 51% or more owned by women, and 33.4% or more
owned by women and managed by a female director.
Figure 2. Classification by gender
Male entrepreneurs:
MANAGED BY MALE
DIRECTOR
Female entrepreneurs:
MANAGED BY 33.4% or more owned by

51% or more owned by
FEMALE DIRECTOR women and managed by a
women
female director
MEASURING THE GENDER DIFFERENCE IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR
In order to assess the gender gap in entrepreneurship in detail, it is necessary to consider various indicators, such as
gender differences in business ownership and board participation, gender differences in the positions of employees,
whether the business organization has a gender policy etc., However, the report based on the current available data
which are the difference between the gender of the director and the gender of the employees was clarified. In addi-
tion, data disaggregated by one gender or female ownership were compiled and examined for comparison purpose.
The report aims to clarify the extent of gender differences in general entrepreneurship indicators, business economic
potential, business skills or employees, technology, innovation, R&D, business outlook and attitude indicators by
gender of the directors.

SUMMARY
KEY BUSINESS INDICATORS
Out of 151.6 thousand enterprises included in the census, 147.4 thousand enter-
prises are managed by citizens of Mongolia. Of which, 37.4% or 55.1 thousand
enterprises are actively operating. Two years prior to the census, 44.6 thousand
enterprises operated, while in 2020, the number of active operating enterprises
were 40.3 thousand.
Looking at the enterprises operating in 2020 by sector, the majority or 73.2%

were in the service sector, including wholesale and retail trade, while 22.1% were
in the industry and construction sector and 4.6% were in the agricultural sector.
The majority of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020,

82.7% have 1-9 employees, while only 0.5% are large enterprises with 200 or
more employees. Also, in terms of sales revenue, 71.5% of enterprises have
annual sales revenue of up to 300 million MNT, while 6.1% have sales revenue
of more than 2.5 billion MNT. The enterprises have been relatively stable or have
operated for more than 10 years were 39.8% of total operating enterprises.
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER
Of the 147.4 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens included

in the 2021 Enterprise Census, 92.5 thousand enterprises or 62.8% have male
directors, and 54.9 thousand enterprises or 37.2% have female directors. The
gender ratio of directors of enterprises is 169, which means 169 male directors
for every 100 female directors.
Furthermore, 60.4% of operating enterprises have male directors and 39.6%

have female directors. As for enterprises operating in 2020, the percentage of
enterprises with male and female directors is 59.8% and 40.2%, respectively.
In addition to gender of directors, the data is specified by gender of owner, the

enterprises with 51% or more owned by women make up 29.6% of the enterpris-
es included in the census and 32.4% of the enterprises operating in 2020. Also,
enterprises with 33.4% or more are owned by women and managed by female
directors is 31.2% of the enterprises included in the census and 33.1% of the
enterprises operating in 2020.
Although both men and women contribute to the business sector, there is a
difference in participation. The decrease in the percentage of female directors
compared to the gender of the ownership indicates that women's participation
in the business sector is lower than that of men in terms of power, especially at
the level of business ownership.
In all legal types of enterprises and organizations, except for partnerships, the
gender ratio remains male-dominated. Also, all forms of enterprise ownership
16
are dominated by men. Gender gap in entrepreneurship is also observed when
looking at regions of residence such as provinces and the capital.
BUSINESS ECONOMIC CAPACITY AND GENDER
There are fewer women in business than men and the business income of fe-
male entrepreneurs is less than males. An enterprise managed by a male direc-
tor generated an average of 2.0 billion MNT in sales revenue, while an enterprise
managed by female director generated twice less sales revenue of 1.0 billion
MNT.
Looking at the difference in the representation of men and women by gender at

different levels of income, the representation of women decreases with increas-
ing income levels. For example, for enterprises with revenue up to 2.5 billion
MNT, 59.0% of directors are male and 41.0% are female directors, while for large
enterprises with sales revenue of more than 2.5 billion MNT, the gender gap
deepens, with 71.6% of enterprises with male directors and 28.4% of enterprises
with female directors.
In 2020, 37.0% of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens have loans and

63.0% do not have loans. The approach to debt financing is generally equal for
both male and female directors. Enterprises with both male and female direc-
tors have generally the same level of access to loans, and the problems they
face are similar, but according to the gender-disaggregated statistics of loans
granted to SMEs by the Bank of Mongolia, the amount and duration of loans
differ by gender. Women borrow for longer terms, but the average loan amount
is lower than that of male borrowers.
SKILLS IN BUSINESS AND GENDER
The tendency of male domination in management and ownership of business

persists in related skills and workplaces.
A total of 419.6 thousand employees work for 40.3 thousand enterprises man-
aged by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, of which 58.5% are male employ-
ees and 41.5% are female employees. Considering the gender ratio of employ-
ees, the number of male employees per 100 female employees is 141.
The gender ratio of employees is also different for enterprises with male and fe-
male directors. In enterprises with female directors, female employees predomi-
nate, while in enterprises with male directors, male employees predominate, and
the gender ratio seems distorted.
The gender ratio among employees is generally male-dominated, but some dif-
ferences observed by industry. For example, the health and education sector
has comparatively higher percentage of female workers than other sectors, and
more than half of the employees in the health, education, accommodation and
food, finance, insurance, other services, wholesale and retail trade, art, enter-
tainment, and real estate sectors are women.

There is a wage gap between male and female workers in the business labor
market. The average salary of enterprises operating in 2020 was 1.1 million
MNT, of which for male employees it was 1.4 million MNT, while for female em-
ployees it was 912.0 thousand MNT. Considering the gender of the director, an
enterprise with a female director pays an average of 15.4% higher salary than an
enterprise with a male director.
TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, R&D AND GENDER
Enterprises use computers and smart devices in their operations counted as

33.0 thousand or 81.8% of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by Mon-
golian citizens that operated in 2020. Looking at the gender of the company
directors, 80.9% of companies with male directors and 83.2% of companies with
female directors use computers and smart devices in their operations.
Enterprises with female directors are slightly more likely to use computers,
smart devices, the Internet, and networks than those with male directors. How-
ever, the number of enterprises with male directors with data servers is more
than the number of enterprises with female directors.
There are 55.8 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that op-
erated in 2018-2021, of which 4.4 thousand introduced new or significantly im-
proved product and service innovations. Considering the gender difference of
directors, 8.1% of enterprises with female directors (1.8 thousand) and 7.9% of
enterprises with male directors (2.7 thousand) introduced new or significantly
improved product and service innovations.
Enterprises with female directors invest more in innovation activities. In 2018-

2021, an enterprise with a male director spent an average of 48.8 million MNT
on innovation activities in 2020, while an enterprise with a female director spent
an average of 205.1 million MNT.
In terms of R&D, enterprises with male directors are doing better than enter-
prises with female directors. Also, in terms of protection of intellectual property
rights, enterprises with male directors are better than those with female direc-
tors. An enterprise with a male director spent an average of 10.0 million MNT on
R&D, while an enterprise with a female director spent an average of 7.0 million
MNT.
BUSINESS PROSPECTS, ATTITUDES AND GENDER
Total of 44.6 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that oper-

ated continuously for 2 consecutive years before the census, of which 13.7%
saw an increase in production and services, while 51.3% remained unchanged
and 35.0% decreased. The decrease in production and services is 34.9% for
enterprises with male directors and 35.2% for enterprises with female directors.
On the other hand, the effect of the decrease in sales income is 43.9% for enter-
prises with male directors and 45.0% for enterprises with female directors. For
18
enterprises with male directors, the number of employees decreased by 16.3%,
which is 0.5 percentage points higher than the enterprises with female directors.
During the strict lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic, 11.2% of enterprises with
male directors and 14.4% of enterprises with female directors operated normal-
ly in 2020. But, during the strict lockdown of the pandemic, 30.1% of enterprises
with male directors and 25.9% of enterprises with female directors that oper-
ated in 2020 decided to completely shut down the operations. This indicator is
slightly higher, 26.6%, for enterprises with 51% or more ownership by women
and 26.7% for enterprises with 33.4% or more ownership by women with female
directors. For enterprises with male directors, the percentage of negative ef-
fects of the pandemic is higher than for enterprises with female directors.
Business expectation of 2022 for enterprises that operated continuously for 2

consecutive years before the census was 45.0% positive and 10.2% negative.
When classifying the expectations by gender of director, 44.7% of enterprises
with male directors have positive expectations, while 45.5% of enterprises with
female directors have positive expectations.

1
CONCEPTS
of
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
and GENDER
1.1 Gender and gender policy

1.2 Gender-sensitive business policy
1.3 Gender statistics of entrepreneurship
1.1
Sex is defined by biological differences in the human body, while gender
refers to the broader concept representing socially constructed character-
istics, values, roles, and positions of people of different sex. The concept
of gender is a relative concept that varies and evolves according to social,
economic and cultural contexts.
GENDER
4.1.1. "gender" means the concepts, ideas and attitudes that have been
AND inherited and evolved over the course of history regarding the roles and re-
GENDER POLICY sponsibilities of men and women in political, legal, economic, social, cultural
and family relations, as well as their position in society.
Law on Ensuring Gender Equality of Mongolia (2011)
The different characteristics, roles, values, opportunities and problems that

are "assigned" to a person in society cannot be determined by gender alone.
Therefore, the world is paying attention to the issue of gender, the so-called
"gender of society", defining gender equality as one of the goals of sustain-
able development and working towards to achieve it. Gender equality means
that people of different sexes participate equally in social life, are provided
with equal opportunities, enjoy the benefits of development equally, and are
free from gender discrimination.
4.1.2. "gender equality" means to be free from discrimination by men and

women participating equally in political, legal, economic, social, cultural and
family relations, benefit equally from the welfare of economic, social and
cultural development, and contribute equally to development;
Law on Ensuring Gender Equality of Mongolia (2011)
Section 11 of Article 16 of the Constitution of Mongolia states that "men

and women have equal rights in political, economic, socio-cultural life, and
family relations...", guaranteeing equal rights in any relation regardless of
sex. More than 10 years have passed since Mongolia passed the Gender
Equality Law in 2011 to regulate gender equality in depth. There is still work
to be done to ensure full implementation of the law, and several measurable
quotas for gender equality stated in the law has not yet to be met.
22
In the "Gender Disparity Index 2022”1 report by the World Economic Forum,
Mongolia was ranked 70th out of 146 countries with score of 0.715 (evaluat-
ed on scale from 0 to 1, 0 - inequality, 1 - equality). Our country was rated rel-
atively equal in terms of education (0.994 points) and health (0.980 points),
while inequality was disclosed in terms of economic participation (0.765
points) and political power (0.121 points). Although the level of education
of women is high, the participation of women in the decision-making level
is insufficient, the employment rate of women is low, and there is inequality
in terms of wages.
The evaluation of the Gender Inequality Index2 calculated by the NSO is
0.367 as of 2021, and "Vision 2050" the long-term development policy of
the Government of Mongolia includes a gender policy to reduce the index
to zero. Achieving gender equality requires gender-sensitive policies. Gen-
der-sensitive policy is not a separate policy for one gender, but rather a pol-
icy that takes into account the characteristics of both genders and aims to
meet their needs and ensure equal rights for different genders.
Gender-sensitive policies are important to reduce inequality in society, pro-
vide equal opportunities, and further improve the quality of life for everyone.
1
Global Gender Gap Report 2022, World Economic Forum
2
A composite index measured by three measures of human development related to gender
inequality: reproductive health, educational status and decision-making power, participation in the
labor market, 0 – equality, 1 – inequality, NSO

1.2
The business sector is the foundation of the country's development. Employ-
ment of the population, living standards, economic potential, technological
development, and the level of development of the country are inextricably
linked to the scale of the business sector. As for Mongolia, the business sec-
tor has developed and the contribution of the private sector to the economy
GENDER- has increased since the transition to a market economy, and the private sec-
tor makes up 76.2%3 of the GDP as of 2021.
SENSITIVE
BUSINESS Mongolia is a low-to middle-income country according to the World Bank's in-
come classification, and a developing country with a small population, weak
POLICY economic diversification, and the majority of the private sector consists of
small and medium-sized enterprises. It focuses improving the quality of life
of the population by creating a favorable business environment and strength-
ening the economy by supporting entrepreneurs.
The business sector reaches and affects all groups of the population through
various factors such as products, services, technology and jobs. Therefore,
it is important to improve the business environment, ensure equal participa-
tion, and enjoy equal benefits, yet gender equality is one aspect that must be
considered in this context.
Mongolia has carefully considered the issue of gender equality and has re-
flected it adequately well in laws, policies and related programs. However,
there is a lack of gender-sensitive and targeted policies and detailed as-
sessments of gender differences of the business sector. For example, in the
business sector, the policy of establishing a gender quota on the Board of
Directors of companies whose shares are publicly traded and listed on the
stock exchange can be implemented in Mongolia. The world's major stock
exchanges, such as NASDAQ, have started requiring their listed companies
to achieve gender equality starting in 2022. When public companies set such
a standard, private and closed companies will have the effect of following
this standard.
Gender sensitivity in any sector or level is an approach that considers gender

differences, promotes equal participation and equal opportunities regardless
of gender, and seeks to change gender stereotypes that limit opportunities.
On the other hand, gender-sensitive policy means making policies gen-
der-sensitive by incorporating gender perspectives.
3
Share of private sector value added in GDP, NSO, 2021
24
1.3
Effective gender-sensitive policies must be based on real data, gender-dis-
aggregated data, gender analysis and research. Although the law on gender
equality includes the principle of transparency, openness and accessibility
of official statistical data classified by sex, a comprehensive and accurate
database that can be used for policy decision-making in the business sector
GENDER not established yet.
STATISTICS OF Government institutions such as the National Statistics Office, the Bank of
ENTREPRE- Mongolia, the Mongolian Tax Authority, the Financial Regulatory Commis-
sion, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund and commercial
NEURSHIP banks have been compiling gender-disaggregated business data within their
respective activities, but the difference in terms of methodology and defini-
tions make it difficult to use as consolidated gender-disaggregated database.
The main reason is that there is no official definition of a male or female
entrepreneur, and each organization uses its own definition. Due to the lack
of unified understanding and definitions, it is difficult to correctly assess the
situation based on real data and determine targeted policies, the implemen-
tation of policies is distorted, policies can not reach the target group, and
makes it hard evaluate the implementation of policies. Therefore, in order to
generate accurate gender-disaggregated data on entrepreneurship, there is a
need for a clear definition that can be used in the country.
Recently, due to the lack of women's participation in the labor market and
business environment in any field, there have been discussions about cre-
ating a definition of a female entrepreneur and creating a legal framework
to support women's entrepreneurship. Supporting women entrepreneurs and
empowering them economically is not only a matter of supporting women, it
creates equal participation in the business environment and invigorates the
entire business sector, also it is believed to have significant impact such as
comprehensively solves social problems by increasing household and family
income, and improving children's education and health.
Internationally, there is experience in creating a legal framework to support

female entrepreneurs and creating a definition of a female entrepreneur. For
example, in the United States, the Women's Business Ownership Act was es-
tablished in 1988, in South Korea the Ministry of Small and Medium Enterpris-
es and Start-Ups was established in 1996, the Women's Business Support Act
was established in 1999, and in the Philippines, the Act to Support Women in
Micro and Small Medium Businesses was established. Approved and imple-
mented in 1995 respectively. In Mongolia, there is no gender-oriented policy
and legislation related to the business sector, small and medium enterprises,
and taxes.

As for the definition of a female entrepreneur, international organizations and
countries have developed different definitions. Some examples are:
• European Bank for Reconstruction and Development: A woman-led busi-

ness is a business in which the general management of the company's
operations is carried out by women, or the business is wholly or partially
owned by women.
• International Finance Corporation: A woman-owned business is 51% or
more owned by a woman, or 20% or more owned by a woman or women,
and 1 or more women Chief Executive Officer/Chief Operating Officer
(President/Vice President) and 30% or more of the Board of Directors
are women.
• Asian Development Bank: A business is considered to be owned or op-
erated by women if at least 50% of the business is owned or held by
women, or at least 60% of top management is women, or at least 50% of
all registered employees are women.
• US Small Business Administration: A woman-owned business is one at
least 51% of the business is directly or indirectly owned by one or more
women and controlled by one or more women.
• India: A women's business is a business where women own and control
more than 51% of the capital, and women account for at least 51% of the
jobs created by the business.
• UK Department of the Economy and Finance: A business is female-led if
at least 51% owned by one or more women and has a woman on the list
of Chief Executive Officers/Chief Operating Officers.
Looking at the above mentioned definitions, women entrepreneurs are gen-

erally defined based on the gender of the business owners, the gender of the
management, or the gender of the employees. In the case of Mongolia, by
developing the definitions of female and male entrepreneurs in accordance
with the characteristics of its own country and incorporating it into the rele-
vant laws and regulations, there will be a single concept to follow at the pol-
icy level. It will be the basis for the formation of gender data in the business
sector, a detailed assessment of gender differences in the business sector,
creating equal gender participation the labor market and the business sector
and implementing gender-sensitive policies.
The 2021 Enterprise Census data presented in the research is the largest
database of the business sector, as well as gender-disaggregated data. The
enterprise census is conducted by the NSO every 5 years, and for the first
time, the 2021 census is creating a comprehensive database disaggregated
by gender or the gender of the enterprise director.
Within the scope of the research, by merging the database of the census and
the database of the Legal Entity Database of the General Authority for State
26
Registration, data classified by gender of the enterprise owner was compiled
and compared. The data was analyzed and classified by one gender, i.e. 51%
or more owned by women, and 33.4% or more owned by women and with a
female director.
Disaggregating enterprise data only by gender of director does not give a

complete picture of the gender situation in the business. Most of the time the
main decision making is related to its owner of the business and this type of
information is necessary. However, as there is currently no definition of male
and female entrepreneurs, as well as no detailed open database of business
owners, the single-gender data were compiled for comparison based on re-
search scope, time, and availability. Although this is insufficient in terms of
gender statistics, it is considered to be significant as additional information
to the data classified by gender of the director. In particular, the selection of
female owner data was not intended for any specific purpose, and was due
to the fact that international definitions of female entrepreneurs are common
and easy to use.
In the future, if an official gender-differentiated definition of an entrepreneur

is created, in accordance with it, this database can be further expanded and
integrated with the databases of other organizations to create a database
classified by gender in the business sector, and it can be used to develop
gender-sensitive policies that reflect the characteristics and differences of
entrepreneurs.

2
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
and
GENDER
2.1 Basic indicators of entrepreneurship

2.2 Measuring gender differences in key indicators
of entrepreneurship
2.1
Considering the scale of entrepreneurship in numerical terms, the number of
enterprises has continuously increased during the last 5 censuses, and 151.6
thousand enterprises were included in the 2021 Enterprise Census. The num-
ber of enterprises increased by 49.9% compared to the census of 2016, which
was held 5 years ago. For the last 3 censuses, the average rate of increase in
BASIC the number of enterprises was 79.6%, or between each census, there was an
increase in entrepreneurship activity.
INDICATORS
OF Out of 151.6 thousand enterprises included in the census, 147.4 thousand enter-
prises are managed by Mongolian citizens. The most common form of entrepre-
ENTREPRE- neurship is LLC, and 92.7% of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens are
NEURSHIP limited liability companies. On the other hand, open joint-stock companies are
counted less and it formed only 0.2% of the total number of enterprises.
Figure 3. The total number of enterprises

included in the census, by years
1998 2006
30
Figure 4. The number of enterprises managed by
Mongolian citizens, by legal type, 2021
Number %
LLC 136 692
Partnership 4 713
Cooperative 4 097
State owned enterprise/

428
Local state-owned enterprise
JSC 294
Others 1 175
Total 147 399 100.0
151 557
2011 2016 2021

Over the last 3 years, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, the business environment has con-
tracted and business operations have been disrupted. Within the framework of the census, enterprises
are registered as operating and not operating (not started, suspended, completely stopped, others) ac-
cording to their activity. Out of the 147.4 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens included
in the 2021 Enterprise Census, 92.3 thousand were inactive, while 55.1 thousand were active.
Furthermore, out of 55.1 thousand operating enterprises, 44.6 thousand enterprises operated continu-
ously for 2 consecutive years before the census, while 40.3 thousand enterprises operated in 2020.
For inactive enterprises, 48.1% of the 92.3 thousand non-operational enterprises have temporarily
stopped their operations, 19.8% are expected to have completely stopped their operations, and 31.4%
are enterprises that have not started operations at all. It is necessary to make a solution to activate and
support those entrepreneurs by further detailed study of the data of 44.4 thousand businesses that have
suspended their operations. Also, for the 29.0 thousand enterprises that are registered but have not yet
started their operations, it is advisable to clarify the reasons and take measures such as removing them
from the registration if they are not given a certain time to activate their operations.
Figure 5. The number of enterprises man-

aged by Mongolian citizens, by activity,
2021
Counted in census 147 399
In operation 55 133
Continuous operations were carried out for 2 consecu- 40 306

tive years prior to the Census 44 599 Operated in 2020
32
The concentration of enterprises varies depending on many factors Figure 6. Number of non operating
such as the economy, business environment, population density, enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens, by reasons, 2021
and mobility, but in general, the concentration is higher in cities
and towns by geographic region. The 73.8% of the 147.4 thousand
enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens included in the census
and 65.6% of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian
44 415
citizens in 2020 are concentrated in Ulaanbaatar.
The enterprises operating are relatively concentrated in the central

region, such as Darkhan-Uul aimag, which is relatively high in terms
of population density and economic potential, Selenge aimag, which
is an agricultural region, and Umnugobi aimag, which is active in
48.1%
mining activities. Compared to other provinces, Orkhon province TEMPORARILY
STOPPED
has the largest number of active entrepreneurs after Ulaanbaatar
city, and it is concentrated in Khangai region. But in the Western
region, Uvs and Khovd provinces have the highest number of entre-
preneurs.
28 999
Figure 7. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens operating in 2020, by region
31.4%
NOT OPERATING
ULAANBAATAR 65.6% 26 460
18 285
19.8%
CENTRAL REGION 11.1% 4 487 COMPLETELY
STOPPED
KHANGAI REGION 10.3% 4 162

0.6%
OTHERS 567
WESTERN REGION 8.7% 3 500
Total 92 266
EASTERN REGION 4.2% 1 697

Figure 8. Number of enterprises managed by Figure 9. Number of enterprises managed
Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020,
ownership by activity
Number %
Property of 39 401 97.8

Mongolian
73.2%
citizens
State and local 396 1.0

property
Property of 296 0.7

foreign citizens
Jointly owned 213 0.5

by foreign and Service
Mongolian sector
citizens
29 524
40 306 100.0
22.1%
Considering the form of ownership of enterprises, 97.8% or
the the majority of enterprises managed by Mongolian cit- Industry and
izens operating in 2020 are privately owned by Mongolian construction
citizens. sector
8 912
Closer look at the structural sector of the entrepreneurship,
73.2% or the majority of enterprises managed by Mongolian 4.6%
citizens operating in 2020 or was in the service sector, in-
cluding wholesale and retail trade, 22.1% was in the indus- Agricultural
try and construction sector, and 4.6% was in the agricultural sector
sector. 1 870
In the service sector, mostly wholesale and retail trade busi-

nesses are operating, while in the industry and construction
sector, there are mostly manufacturing and construction
businesses such as food products, beverages, furniture,
and clothing manufacturing operating.
34
In 2020, 39.8% of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens were rel-
atively stable or had been operating for more than 10 years, 30.3% had been operating for
6-10 years, and 25.6% had been operating for 2-5 years. But 4.3% or 1.7 thousand enterpris-
es are new businesses that have been operating for up to 1 year.
The majority of enterprises have stable operation, of which 29.9% of enterprises that have
been operating for up to 5 years, and 70.1% of enterprises that have been operating for
more than 5 years. On the other hand, only 4.3% of enterprises that have been operating for
up to 1 year may indicate that there was little opportunity to start a new business due to
the impact of the pandemic.
Figure 10. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolia citizens operating in

2020, by the period of operation
0-1 year
1 732
4.3%
2-5 years
10 309
25.6%
6-10 years
12 218
30.3%
11-15 years
8 324
20.7%
19.2%
16 or more years
7 723

According to the Law on Support of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises and Services (2019), "small and medi-
um-sized enterprises and service providers" are defined as enterprises with up to 200 employees, annual sales reve-
nue of up to 2.5 billion MNT, and operating in the fields of production, trade, and services.
It is difficult to identify an SME by both the number of employees and the amount of sales income, and even though
there are statistical data on enterprises registered as SME, it is difficult to see the complete picture because they are
registered only to participate in a project, program, or subsidized loan.
According to the legal definition, if we consider only the number of employees, 99.5% of the enterprises managed by
citizens of Mongolia that operated in 2020 have up to 200 employees, and only 0.5% of the enterprises in the SME
category are large enterprises with 200 or more employees. More specifically, 82.7% of enterprises are classified as
micro-enterprises with 1-9 employees. This is only an amount based on census data and is not an official statistic
for registered SMEs.
Figure 11. The number of enterprises

managed by Mongolia citizens operat-
ing in 2020, by number of employees
SME
40 088
(99.5%)
(82.7%) (14.3%) (2.5%) (0.5%)

Medium Large
Micro Small (50-199 (200 or more
(1-9 employees) (10-49 employees) employees) employees)
33 317 5 770 1 001
36
Also, according to the category of sales income specified by law, the majority of the enterprises or 93.9%, fall into the
category of SMEs with an annual sales income of up to 2.5 billion MNT, while 6.1% of them fall into the category of
large enterprises with a sales income of more than 2.5 billion MNT.
More specifically, 71.5% of the enterprises can be classified as micro-enterprises with an annual sales income of up
to 300 million MNT.
It is important to classify enterprises according to their size and implement policies aimed, and in order to determine
such policies, it is necessary to create real data. Formulating the definition of SMEs stipulated by the law in a more
understandable way, specify in detail which indicators should be taken into account when classifying them by the
number of employees and sales revenue, state how to compile statistical data according to the definition, and create
a registration database by simplifying the process of registration as SMEs.
Figure 12. The number of enterprises

managed by Mongolia citizens operat-
ing in 2020, by sales income group
SME
37 857
(93.9%)
(71.5%) (19.3%) (3.1%) (6.1%)

Medium Large
Micro Small (1 – 2.4 billion (2.5 billion MNT and
(Up to 300 million MNT) (300 million – 1 billion MNT) MNT) more)
28 806 7 797 1 254

2.2
The study of entrepreneurship indicators or gender-disaggregated enterprise
data is problematic for two main reasons: the lack of a definition gender-dis-
aggregated entrepreneur and the lack of a gender-disaggregated database.
As part of the 2021 Enterprise Census, enterprise information was disaggre-

MEASURING gated by director gender, creating the most comprehensive gender-disag-
gregated database of its kind for the first time. However, it is not possible to
GENDER measure the gender difference by classifying the entrepreneurship indicator
by gender of director alone, and according to the internationally used defi-
DIFFERENCES nitions, it is common to measure the gender difference by focusing on the
IN KEY gender of the owner of the enterprise, and by including the gender of the
employees. Therefore, the gender data of the directors was used from the
INDICATORS census, and additionally, based on the possibility of the research, the data
of the owner classified by one gender or the data of the female owner was
OF studied for the purpose of comparison within the framework of the research.
ENTREPRE-
Out of the 147.4 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in-
NEURSHIP cluded in the 2021 Enterprise Census, 92.5 thousand enterprises or 62.8%
have male directors, and 54.9 thousand enterprises or 37.2% have female
directors. The gender ratio of corporate directors is 169, or 169 male direc-
tors for every 100 female directors.
Furthermore, 60.4% of the active enterprises managed by Mongolian cit-

izens have male directors and 39.6% have female directors. In 2020, the
percentage of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens was 59.8% and
40.2%, respectively, with male and female directors.
Although both men and women contribute to the business sector, there is
a difference in participation. In addition to the gender of the director, when
the data is detailed by gender of owner, 29.6% of enterprises managed by
Mongolian citizens included in the census have female owners or 51% or
more owned by women, and enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens
that operated in 2020 made up 32.4%. Also, when the data criteria is de-
tailed, 31.2% of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens included in the
census is 33.4% or more owned by women, and enterprises managed by
Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020 made up 33.1%.
38
The decrease in the percentage of women entrepreneurs calculated by gender of
director compared to the gender of the female owner indicates that the participa-
tion of women in the business sector is lower than that of men in terms of power,
especially at the level of business ownership. However, it is not possible to directly
conclude the gender differences in the business sector, and based on available
data or census results, this research aims to investigate in detail.
Figure 13. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens, by

gender of the director, by female owners, by activity, by percentage, 2021
Counted in In operation Continuous opera- Operated in

census tions were carried 2020
out for 2 consecu-
tive years prior to
the census
37.2% 39.6% 40.0% 40.2%
62.8% 60.4% 60.0% 59.8%

54 888 21 837 17 843 16 214
92 511 33 296 26 756 24 092
29.6% 31.2% 32.0% 32.9% 32.2% 33.0% 32.4% 33.1%
43 598 45 972 17 636 18 133 14 379 14 714 13 048 13 350
Managed by male director

Managed by female director
51% or more owned by women
33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a female director

Figure 14. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens in 2020, by legal type, by gender of the director, by per-
centage
TOTAL 24 092 59.8% 40.2% 16 214
JSC 150 77.3% 22.7% 44
LLC 22 343 60.2% 39.8% 14 782
PARTNERSHIP 536 46.8% 53.2% 609
COOPERATIVE 748 63.8% 36.2% 425

STATE OWNED ENTERPRISE /
LOCAL STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE
205 71.4% 28.6% 82
OTHERS 110 28.8% 71.2% 272
Figure 15. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens

in 2020, by ownership, by gender of the director, by percentage
Total 24 092 59.8% 40.2% 16 214
Property of Mongolian citizens 23 508 59.7% 40.3% 15 893
State and local property 300 75.8% 24.2% 96
Property of foreign citizens 153 51.7% 48.3% 143
Jointly owned by foreign and Mongolian 131 61.5% 38.5% 82

citizens
In all legal types of enterprises, except for partnerships, the gender ra-
tio remains male-dominated. The gender ratio of directors is the highest
at 341 for joint-stock companies. The gender ratio is 151 for the most
common form of entrepreneurship, LLC, while for the gender ratio is 88
for partnerships, with female directors predominating. The percentage of
businesses with female owners is lower than the percentage of business-
es with female directors, and the gap is even higher for partnerships and
cooperatives.
Managed by male director Managed by female director

40
Figure 16. The number of enterprises managed 51% or more owned by women 33.4% or more owned by women
by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by legal type, by and managed by a female
female owner, by percentage director
TOTAL 32.4% 33.1%
JSC 9.8% 5.7%
LLC 33.7% 34.1%
PARTNERSHIP 22.4% 37.3%
COOPERATIVE 5.5% 6.2%
STATE OWNED ENTERPRISE /

14.3% 11.8%
LOCAL STATE-OWNED ENTERPRISE
OTHERS 38.0% 37.4%
Figure 17. The number of enterprises managed by

Mongolian citizens in 2020, by ownership, by female
owner, by percentage
Total 32.4% 33.1%
Property of Mongolian citizens 32.8% 33.6%
State and local property 12.1% 9.8%
Property of foreign citizens 7.8% 7.1%
Jointly owned by foreign and Mongolian citizens 28.2% 24.9%
All forms of enterprise ownership are dominated by men. Among them, the gender ratio of
directors of state-owned and local enterprises is the highest at 313, while it is 148 for civ-
il-owned enterprises in Mongolia. The gender ratio of directors is relatively balanced or 107
for enterprises owned by citizens of foreign citizens,.
The percentage of businesses with female owners is also lower than the percentage of busi-
nesses with female directors, and the gap is highest for foreign citizen owned enterprises. In
other words, as ownership power in business increases, male participation tends to dominate.

Gender differences in entrepreneurship are also observed when looking at the capital, provinces or regions
of residence. Among the regions, the gender difference in entrepreneurship in the Eastern region is 53.4% for
men and 46.6% for women, which is relatively balanced, while in other provinces and Ulaanbaatar, women are
significantly less involved in business than men.
The number of enterprises with female directors is 1.8 to 3.3 times lower than the number of enterprises with
male directors and the gender gap in entrepreneurship is the highest in Bayan-Ulgii, Khovd, Arkhangai and Uvs
provinces.
The gender gap is the highest in the west region, where the gender gap in entrepreneurship is high Bayan-Ulgii,
Khovd, and Uvs provinces are located. Also, in other regions and provinces, as the business activity measured
by the number of enterprises increases, the probability of having a female director decreases.
Majority or 60.6% of the enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in Ulaanbaatar have male direc-
tors and 39.4% female directors, while the average of 21 provinces has 58.2% male directors and 41.8% female
directors. In Ulaanbaatar city and regions, the percentage of businesses with female owners is 7%-8% lower
than the percentage of businesses with female directors.
Figure 18. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by region, by gender of
director, by female owner, by percentage
Western Khangai Central Eastern

Total Ulaanbaatar
region region region region
59.8% 65.7% 57.0% 55.3% 53.0% 60.6%
40.2% 34.3% 43.0% 44.7% 47.0% 39.4%
32.4% 27.7% 34.8% 37.4% 39.9% 31.3%
33.1% 28.1% 35.9% 37.8% 38.7% 32.2%
42
Figure 19. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020,
by provinces and the Capital, by gender of director, by percentage
MANAGED BY MALE DIRECTOR MANAGED BY FEMALE DIRECTOR
76.5% 23.5%
BAYAN-ULGII
65.5% 34.5%
KHOVD
64.9% 35.1%
ARKHANGAI
64.0% 36.0%
UVS
61.4% 38.6%
ZAVKHAN
60.7% 39.3%
KHUVSGUL
60.6% 39.4%
ULAANBAATAR
60.5% 39.5%
UVURKHANGAI
59.8% 40.2%
ТUV
59.4% 40.6%
GOBI-ALTAI
58.4% 41.6%
SELENGE
57.5% 42.5%
UMNUGOBI
57.3% 42.7%
BULGAN
57.1% 42.9%
BAYANKHONGOR
54.5% 45.5%
GOBISUMBER
54.1% 45.9%
DUNDGOBI
54.0% 46.0%
KHENTII
52.8% 47.2%
SUKHBAATAR
52.3% 47.7%
DORNOD
51.7% 48.3%
DARKHAN-UUL
50.9% 49.1%
ORKHON
49.7% 50.3%
DORNOGOBI

When the gender ratio of the population is almost equal, it is necessary to clarify
the reasons and problems behind the dominance of one gender and to investi-
gate in detail whether equal opportunities can be provided, rather than stating
men and women should participate in equal numbers in the business sector.
The gender ratio is generally balanced in Mongolian population of 3.3 million4,

where 49.3% is male and 50.7% is female. However, 52.9% of the total workforce
of 1.2 million is men and 47.1% are women. Furthermore, the labor force partici-
pation rate, which shows what percentage of the working-age population is in the
labor force, is 65.2% for men compared to 49.9% for women, and the employment
rate, which shows what percentage of the working-age population is occupied by
employees, is 59.6% for men and 46.0% for women.5
What accounts for declining female participation as employment indicators

narrow? The female labor force participation rate dropped in 14 years by 12.9%
from 62.8% in 2008 to 49.9% in 2021. One of the main reasons is related to the
reproductive role of women. Coinciding with the decrease in the participation of
women in the labor force, the general fertility rate increased since 2008, from an
average of 19.4 per year in 2000-2007 to 25.0 in 2008-20216. In particular, the
gender gap in labor force participation is greatest among the 20-34 age group,
which has the highest birth rate.
Women's pregnancy and childbirth is not a short-term process, which requires

stop working for at least 1-2 years. Especially in today's situation where access to
childcare services, kindergartens and schools is poor, women are forced to take
care of their children at home for longer period of time. On the other hand, the so-
cial stereotype that childcare is a woman's role is still strong. In order to increase
the employment of the population and increase the participation of women in the
labor market, a policy is necessary to improve the services related to child care in
addition to supporting childbirth, and to increase the opportunities for women to
actively participate in social life while fulfilling their reproductive duties.
The revision of the 2021 Labor Law includes regulations on the possibility of
working from home electronically, which is considered to be a form of support
for women's employment, and further, it is necessary to create more detailed
policies to increase the opportunities for women to work while taking care of
their children. While there are obvious reasons behind the women's participation
in the labor market has steadily declined in recent years, their participation in the
business sector cannot be increased.
According to the results of the 2019 Time Use Survey of the NSO, Mongolian
4
Number of people living in Mongolia, NSO, 2021
5
Basic indicators of employment, NSO, 2021
6
Number of live births per 1,000 population in a given year, NSO
44
women spend 1-8 times more time than men on unpaid work such as housework
and child care. Men spend an average of 2 hours a day taking care of children
and family members and doing housework, while women spend an average of
4.7 hours a day. This difference increases depending on age group, marriage,
number of children, employment, living condition such as urban or rural area, and
women spend 1-8 times more time for unpaid work than men.
Childcare, housework, and caring for elderly and sick family members often fall
into women’s duty. During the shutdown of kindergartens and schools due to the
impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, women's hours of unpaid work have increased.
For these reasons, women have limited opportunities to spend time on work and
business. Valuing women's unpaid work, eliminating social stereotypes, and im-
proving services related to unpaid work such as childcare are important to sup-
port women's employment and entrepreneurship.
Women have higher level of education than men and spend more time on educa-
tion, but when they enter the labor market, the ability to spend the same amount
of time as men is limited. The higher education of male directors of enterprises
managed by Mongolian citizens is 68.8%, while this indicator is 74.9% of the fe-
male directors.7 Gender differences in employment also persist in entrepreneur-
ship. The gender difference between the directors of enterprises managed by
citizens of Mongolia, men and women account for 60.4% and 39.6%, respectively.
7
Population and Household Database, NSO

There are many factors that influence women's entrepreneurial decision-making and their ability to
manage a business, but the characteristics of business sectors also influence women's entrepre-
neurship, which could be sectors that are open or suitable for women, because women-dominated
businesses are located in a different sector than men's. For example, there are relatively many busi-
nesses with female directors in the health, education, accommodation and food services sectors,
while men clearly dominate in the mining, construction, transportation, information, communica-
tions, and agriculture sectors.
In 2020, 55.3% of all enterprises operating in the service sector, 69.8% of enterprises operating in
the agricultural sector, and 72.5% of enterprises operating in the industry and construction sectors
have male directors. In terms of ownership, the percentage of enterprises with female owners is also
lower than the enterprises with female directors.
Figure 20. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating

in 2020, by sector, by gender of the director, by percentage
AGRICULTURAL 69.8% 30.2%

SECTOR 1 306 564
INDUSTRY AND
CONSTRUCTION
72.5% 27.5%
SECTOR 6 457 2 455
55.3% 44.7%
SERVICE SECTOR 16 329 13 195
46
The gender gap is higher in the industry and construction sectors, although in the service sector is
relatively balanced, male directors still predominate. Looking at the sectors in detail, businesses
with female directors are slightly more dominant with 50% or more in healthcare, education, hotels,
restaurants, finance, insurance and retail sectors. Sectors in which women are engaged in business
are relatively limited, and the low participation of women in leading economic sectors such as mining
and construction is highly likely to cause economical gender issues.
In all sectors of the economy, the percentage of female-owned enterprises is lower than that of
female-managed enterprises, indicating that even if women work at the management level of the
business, men dominate the ownership of the business. The gap is greatest in the finance, insurance,
education and health sectors. It is noteworthy that the share of enterprises with female directors in
these sectors was 50 or more, but the participation of women as business owners is decreasing. In
addition, the differences of participation in the business sectors may indicate the need to reconsider
the gender issue of choice of profession. Having too high gender gap among entrepreneurs in some
sectors is a matter of concern that need further attention.
Figure 21. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens

operating in 2020, by sector, by female owner, by percentage
AGRICULTURAL
SECTOR
22.8% 22.4%
426 418
22.3% 22.3%
INDUSTRY AND
CONSTRUCTION
SECTOR 1 989 1 986
36.0% 37.1%
SERVICE SECTOR 10 633 10 946
51% or more owned by women 33.4% or more owned by women and

managed by a female director

48
Figure 22. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020,
by sector, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
51% or more 33.4% or more

owned by owned by
women women and
Managed by managed by a
male director Managed by female director
female director
83.1% Mining and quarrying Human health and social work activities 72.2% 54.8% 60.4%
82.2% Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply Education 61.9% 41.9% 43.3%
79.9% Construction Accommodation and food service activities 53.0% 42.5% 44.3%
74.3% Transportation and storage Financial and insurance activities 51.7% 32.0% 30.6%
Water supply, sewerage, waste management and
74.2% Ус хангамж; сувагжилтын систем, хог хаягдал зайлуулах болон хүрээлэн Other service activities 46.3% 38.6% 40.5%
remediation activities
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor
73.5% Information and communication Бөөний болон жижиглэн худалдаа; машин, мотоциклийн 44.0% 38.0% 38.8%
vehicles and motorcycles
69.8% Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting Arts, entertainment and recreation 42.3% 26.9% 30.8%
63.0% Manufacturing Real estate activities 41.6% 27.8% 28.4%
61.3% Administrative and support service activities Professional, scientific and technical activities 41.6% 31.1% 33.9%
58.4% Professional, scientific and technical activities Administrative and support service activities 38.7% 29.4% 30.0%
58.4% Real estate activities Manufacturing 37.0% 29.8% 31.0%
57.7% Arts, entertainment and recreation Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 30.2% 22.8% 22.4%
56.0% Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and motorcycles Information and communication 26.5% 19.3% 18.7%

53.7% Other service activities Ус хангамж; сувагжилтын систем, хог хаягдал зайлуулах 25.8% 14.8% 15.6%
48.3% Financial and insurance activities Transportation and storage 25.7% 21.9% 20.7%
47.0% Accommodation and food service activities Construction 20.1% 16.8% 16.1%
38.1% Education Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 17.8% 15.6% 12.2%
27.8% Human health and social work activities Mining and quarrying 16.9% 12.8% 9.5%
When the size of the business is classified by the number of employees, there is a tendency to have
male directors as the number of employees increases, 19.1% of enterprises with male directors
have more than 10 employees, while 14.8% of enterprises with female directors have more than 10
employees. For enterprises with more than 200 employees, the gender gap of directors is increasing,
with 71.1% male directors and 28.9% female directors.
By number of employees, the percentage of female-owned businesses is lower than the percentage
of female-managed businesses, especially as the number of employees increases. 28.9% of enter-
prises with 200 or more employees had female directors, while 11.9% of the enterprises, 51% or more
were owned by women, had female directors, but this number decreases to 11.0% for enterprises
33.4% or more were owned by women.
An enterprise with a male director has an average of 12 employees, while an enterprise with a female
director has an average of 8 employees.
Figure 23. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020,
by number of employees, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
1-9 10-49 50-199 200 or more

employees employees employees employees
33 317
(82.7%)
5 770
(14.3%) 1 001 218
(2.5%) (0.5%)
58.5% 41.5% 64.7% 35.3% 70.3% 29.7% 71.1% 28.9%
51% or more
owned by women 34.3% 24.8% 17.1% 11.9%
33.4% or more
owned by wom-
en and managed 35.3% 24.4% 15.3% 11.0%
by a female
director

In terms of sales revenue, enterprises with male directors are also more capacity, 31.0% of
enterprises with male directors have an annual sales income of more than 300 million MNT,
while 24.8% of enterprises with female directors have an annual sales income of more than 300
million MNT. As business sales revenue increases, the percentage of female-owned enterprises
decrease compared to the percentage of enterprises with female directors.
Out of 2.4 thousand enterprises with an annual sales income of more than 2.5 billion MNT op-
erated in 2020, 1.8 thousand enterprises have male directors and 696 enterprises have female
directors. The average sales revenue of an enterprise with a male director is 2.0 billion MNT,
while the average sales revenue of an enterprise with a female director is 1.0 billion MNT.
Figure 24. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in
2020, by sales income group, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
Up to 300 300 million – 1 1 - 2.4 billion 2.5 billion MNT

million MNT billion MNT MNT and more
28 806
(71.5%)
7 797
(19.3%) 1 254 2 449
(3.1%) (6.1%)
57.7% 42.3% 62.7% 37.3% 66.7% 33.3% 71.6% 28.4%
51% or more
34.5% 29.7% 26.6% 18.7%
owned by women
33.4% or more
owned by wom-
en and managed 35.8% 29.8% 25.3% 16.5%
by a female
director

50
Figure 25. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by
duration of operation, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
51% or more 33.4% or more

By sales revenue group, the rep- 0-1 year owned by owned by wom-
resentation of enterprises with women en and managed
male and female directors dif- by a female
director
fers, with male predominance in
all groups, reflecting the prevail- 1 075
ing gender bias in the business
62.1%
environment.
37.9% 657 32.1% 33.2%
If we look at the structure of en- 2-5 years

terprises with male and female
directors according to the du-
ration of operation, enterprises 6 041
with female directors are slightly 58.6%
more stable, 39.0% of enterpris-
es with male directors have op- 4 268
41.4%
erated for more than 10 years, 33.2% 34.6%
while 41.0% of enterprises with
female directors have operated 6-10 years
for more than 10 years and 40.0%
of enterprises with 51% or more
ownership by women, 40.1% of
enterprises with 33.4% or more 62.0% 7 581
ownership by women and female
directors have been operating for
more than 10 years.
38.0% 4 637 31.6% 31.6%
11-15 years
A male-owned business has
higher sales revenue, more em-
ployees, and is more likely to be
4 961
in business for a long time. 59.6%
3 363
40.4% 33.8% 34.1%
16 or more
years
4 434
57.4%
3 289
Managed by male director 42.6% 31.1% 32.5%

FIGURE 26. 55.1 thousand Entrepreneurs who hold the director position of enterprises
managed by citizens of Mongolia:
WHO ARE THE
ENTREPRENEURS?
39.6%
21 837
Total
60.4%
33 296
12 948
8 326
6 097
4 121
1 527
277
Below 65 and
25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64
25 over
175 1 190
3 405 3 962
6 134
6 971 Source: Population and Household Database, NSO
secondary
28
lized
64
cia
pe
34
l, S
43
na
r
elo
da r y
31
ach
tio
on
ec
ca
65
a, B
,S
vo
1 571
11
19 95
nd
plom
h.D
ic
80
as
d
al a
ate
1759
7
Master, P
ry, B
uc
Upper di
5
7 954
Technic
91
Prima
ed
68 23
Not
14 484
3 853
1 406
1 293
52
Below 65 and
Single 25 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 over
Married
0.3%
0.1%
0.7%
6 630
1.9%
0.9%
3.4%
5.6%
5.7%
5.3%
43 650
7.1%
5.3%
9.9%
4 080
26 858 Separated, 2 550

divorced,
widowed
16 792
32.5%
32.2%
33.0%
Total
2 086 Managed by male director
369 Managed by female director
1 717
Source: Population and
52.7%
55.8%
47.7%
Household Database, NSO
Below 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65 and

25 over
210 4 416 9 738 7 889 4 765 1 788

Up to 300
million MNT
80 1 661 3 645 3 558 2 441 807
130 2 755 6 093 4 331 2 324 981
37 1 070 2 951 2 267 1 149 323

300 million –
1 billion MNT
18 341 958 911 547 134
19 729 1 993 1 356 602 189
12 131 448 415 206 42

6
448
1 – 2.4 billion
MNT 7 36 135 142 79 18
5 95 313 273 127 24
9 267 927 741 409 96

2.5 billion
MNT and
5 69 221 219 146 36
more
4 198 706 522 263 60

3
BUSINESS ECONOMIC
CAPACITY
and
GENDER
3.1 Business income generation and gender differences

3.2 Business financing, investment and gender differences
3.1
When measuring the scale of business results by the level of sales income,
24.1 thousand enterprises with male directors managed by Mongolian cit-
izens generated a total of 48.9 trillion MNT in 2020, while 16.2 thousand
enterprises with female directors generated a total of 16.0 trillion MNT in
sales revenue. As for the owner of the enterprise, the total sales revenue of
BUSINESS the business in which 51% or more of the enterprise is owned by a woman
is 10.1 trillion MNT, 33.4% or more is owned by a woman and with a female
INCOME director is 8.2 trillion MNT.
GENERATION
AND GENDER An enterprise with a male director generated an average of 2.0 billion MNT
in sales revenue, while an enterprise with a female director generated twice
DIFFERENCES less sales revenue of 1.0 billion MNT.
The small number of women compared to men in terms of running business

and generating less revenue indicates that there is some distortion in the
equal participation of men and women in the business sector and the equal
benefits of development.
56
Figure 27. Total sales income of enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens that operated in 2020, by gender of director, by female owner
Total sales revenue, trillion MNT
48.9
trillion MNT
10.1
75.3% trillion MNT
24.7%
8.2
16.0
trillion MNT
trillion MNT
Average sales revenue per enterprise, billion MNT
2.0 0.6 billion MNT

billion MNT
1.0
0.8 billion MNT
billion MNT
Managed by male director Managed by female 51% or more owned by 33.4% or more owned by
director women women and managed by a
female director

Looking at the representation of gender as a director at different levels of income, the repre-
sentation of women decreases as income level increases. For example, for enterprises with
revenue up to 2.5 billion MNT, 59.0% of directors are male and 41.0% are female directors,
while for large enterprises with sales revenue of more than 2.5 billion MNT, the gender gap
deepens, with 71.6% of enterprises with male directors and 28.4% of enterprises with female
directors. Furthermore, in terms of female-owned enterprises, 18.7% of large enterprises with
sales revenue of more than MNT 2.5 billion are 51% or more owned by women, while 16.5% are
33.4% or more owned by women and have female directors.
Figure 28. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in
2020, by sales income group, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
71.6% 1 753
2.5 billion MNT and more
28.4% 696 18.7% 16.5%
66.7% 837
1 – 2.4 billion MNT

33.3% 417 26.6% 25.3%
62.7% 4 888
300 million – 1 billion MNT
37.3% 2 909 29.7% 29.8%
57.7% 16 614
Up to 300
million MNT
42.3% 12 192 34.5% 35.8%
Managed by male director Managed by female 51% or more owned by 33.4% or more owned by
director women women and managed by a
female director
58
What accounts for the increasing gender gap in directors of businesses and the decreasing
number of businesses with female directors as sales revenue increases?
Bank of Mongolia started to announce some key indicators of the banking sector by gender
since 2021. For example, it has become possible to see the indicators of citizens' such as
current accounts, savings, loans, and loans granted to SMEs by gender. There are 5.9 million
current accounts and 3.2 million savings accounts registered in banking sector as of the end
of 2022, 47.1% of current accounts are held by male customers, 52.9% are held by female
customers, 43.3% of savings accounts are held male customers, and 56.7% are held by fe-
male customers. For current accounts, the average balance per account is 18.6% higher for
male customers than for women, and for savings, the average balance per account for men is
10.1% higher than for women.
Males account for 39.5% of loan accounts and women account for 60.5%. On the other hand,
one male customer received a loan of 10.3 million MNT on average, while one female custom-
er received a loan by 47.4% less which is 5.4 million MNT. Although women use more current
and savings accounts, save more than men, and take out more loans, these indicators are
lower than men on a per-customer basis.
Furthermore, according to the data of the Bank of Mongolia classified by gender of loans
granted to SMEs and enterprises, as of the end of 2022, 63.7% of the outstanding loans of 5.4
trillion MNT for male borrowers and 36.3% for female borrowers. The average loan amount
per borrower is 89.9 million MNT for male borrowers, while it is 45.2% lower or 49.3 million
MNT for female borrowers. Considering the average loan duration, men received loans with an
average duration of 31.0 months and women with an average duration of 34.3 months. Also,
the average annual loan interest is 13.1% for male borrowers and 13.0% for female borrowers.
The rate of non-performing loans is 13.2% for men and 9.6% for women. It is worth noting
that female SME owners have lower loan defaults, longer terms and lower interest rates than
men, but the amount of loans they receive is lower than that of men. The fact that women
are getting loans with longer terms and lower interest rates may be due to the introduction
of subsidized loan in the banking sector specifically for female borrowers. Also, women may
have limited access to large loans due to credit requirements and collateral. The Asian De-
velopment Bank and NSO jointly organized a pilot study "Determining Asset Ownership and
Entrepreneurship by Gender Status" in 2018. According to the results of the research, male
members tend to own/own family real estate, and 2 times more likely to own houses than
women, 3-6 times more for agricultural land, and 1.5 times more for other real estate. 60% of
men and 33% of women reported that they own their own home. It cannot be denied that wom-
en's businesses are smaller than men's because of difficulties in finding sources of financing.

Figure 29. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that oper-
ated in 2020, by sales income group, by sector, by male director, by percentage
Looking at enterprises by
sales income group, the
trend of decreasing number 2.5 billion MNT
of enterprises with female and more
directors is even more evi- %
.9
dent as the income increas- 1 – 2.4 billion
81
MNT
es or as the enterprise
. 0% .3%
grows. 300 million – 1 billion
MNT 80 98
0% .0% 8%
Up to 300 million
85. 70 83.
MNT
.9% 0%
3.
2 % 75 84. %
8 75.3
.7% 78 .6% %
80 73.4
%
3% % 87.5
Mining and quarrying 79. 74.2 %
% 86.7
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply
74.3 71.9
%
Construction 80.0%
Transportation and storage 6 9.2% 87.1%
70.8%
73.1% 82.6%
remediation activities 68.8%
74.5%
Information and communication 68.9%
68.4%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
65.7% 72.4%
Manufacturing 61.5%
Administrative and support service activities 69.8% 67.7%
58.9% 68.6%
Professional, scientific and
technical activities 56.8% 67.5% 71.8% 69.6%
Real estate activities
Arts, entertainment and recreation 58.1% 58.0%
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of 65.5%
59.3%
motor vehicles and motorcycles 57.1%
54.5%
Other service activities 100.0
54.9 % 66.7%
Financial and insurance activities %
56.9
Accommodation and food 52. %
1% 56.5
%
service activities
45. 67. 66.2
6% %
Education 1% 100
Human health and social work activities 46 51. .0%
.0% 8% 57.
1%
35 52 60.
.9% .3% 6%
66.
48 53 0%
26
.3% .5%
.3
%
29 32
.6%
29
.4%
.6
The trend is the opposite only in the hotel

%
and restaurant industry. Majority of en- 57

.1%
33
.3
terprises in the healthcare and education

%
sectors have female directors, but in large

61
enterprises with an annual sales income of

.8%
more than 2.5 billion MNT, the participation

of women is decreasing.
60
Figure 30. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income
group, by sector, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
%
2.5 billion MNT 18
%
15
and more
.2%
%
38 14
%
1 – 2.4 billion 52 %
% 11
MNT 52
.9%
.7% 42
300 million – 1 billion %
66 %
35
%
30
%
45 29 %
30
MNT
.6% .4%
%
38
70 67
.4% %
70 28
% 33
%
Up to 300 million % 33 10%
% 27
20%
65
.7% .5% 0%
MNT %
46 34.
60
51 %
.7%
37
% % 12%
47 38
73 46
%
.7% 4%
27%
29%
.1% 47 39. %
29%
64 25%
42.9
%
47
44
% 27% 0%
.0% 2%
48.
0%
Human health and social work activities 54 35% 0.0% 23%
35% 24% 24%
24% %
Education
54.
9% % 33.8
32.4 38%
37%
Accommodation and food 43% %
%
40%
38%
43.5
service activities 47.9 % 37%
43.1 0% 0%
Financial and insurance activities 39%

40% 0% 33.3%
% 100%
45.1 6% 0.0%
Other service activities 36% 3
32% 45.5%
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor vehicles and 25%
42.9% 40.7%
22% 17%
14% 24%
motorcycles 30% 28% 34.5%
28% 30% 42.0%
Arts, entertainment and recreation 41.9%
Real estate activities 30.4% 17% 17%
32.5% 25% 23% 28.2% 33% 26%
Professional, scientific and 43.2% 32% 36%
technical activities
41.1% 32% 33% 31.4%
Administrative and support service activities
24% 23% 30.2% 19% 14% 32.3% 16% 13%
Manufacturing 38.5% 32% 33%

34.3%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 27% 28%
27.6% 22% 20%
31.1% 31.6%
Information and communication 24%
18% 17%
24%
25.5%
Water supply, sewerage, waste management and 19%
17%
26.9 31.3%
remediation activities % 20% 6% 6%
20%
29.2 17.4%
13%
Transportation and storage 30.8 % 21%
9%
% 22%
20%
12.9
Construction 22% % 6%
25. 28.1 10%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 7% % 20.0
22% 6%
13%
% 9%
4%
Mining and quarrying 20 21% 13.3
.7% 25. %
18
8% 13%
7%
% 22%
19 17 21% 12.5
.3% %
21 26. % 6%
17 .4% 6% 6%
16 % 20%
.8% 15
%
18
% 19%
17
12 24 % 24.
% .1% 16 7%
11 .0% 21%
% 18
% 13 18%
15 16 %
.0% % 13
%
30 16
10
%
.0% .2%
7% 15 11
% %
20 15
%
9%
.0% 1.7
20 %
% 9%
Managed by female director 13
% 2%
18
51% or more owned by women .1%
17
33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a female director %
9%

Figure 31. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by duration of
operation, by sales income group, by sector, by gender of director, by female owner, by percentage
16 or more
0-1 year 2-5 years 6-10 years 11-15 years
years
62.0% 56.7% 60.6% 57.0% 53.5%

Up to 300
38.0% 43.3% 39.4% 43.0% 46.5% million MNT
32.5% 35.1% 33.2% 36.4% 34.6%

33.6% 36.7% 33.6% 37.4% 37.1%
60.0% 63.9% 64.7% 61.5% 60.1% 300 million –

1 billion MNT
40.0% 36.1% 35.3% 38.5% 39.9%
30.4% 29.4% 28.6% 31.6% 29.4%

32.8% 30.3% 28.4% 31.8% 28.8%
62.5% 62.9% 63.7% 73.1% 67.1%

1 – 2.4
billion MNT
37.5% 37.1% 36.3% 26.9% 32.9%
25.0% 27.6% 29.0% 26.3% 23.9%

37.5% 28.5% 27.6% 21.1% 23.9%
2.5 billion
74.2% 70.6% 71.6% 72.1% 71.6% MNT and
more
25.8% 29.4% 28.4% 27.9% 28.4%
22.6% 15.3% 22.3% 19.3% 16.8%
12.9% 14.6% 18.7% 16.2% 15.8%
62.1% 58.6% 62.0% 59.6% 57.4%

Total
37.9% 41.4% 38.0% 40.4% 42.6%
32.1% 33.2% 31.6% 33.8% 31.1%

33.2% 34.6% 31.6% 34.1% 32.5%
Managed by male director 51% or more owned by women

Managed by female director 33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a female director
62
Considering the gender difference of business by sales revenue and duration of operation,
as the sales revenue and duration of operation of the enterprise increases, the percentage of
enterprises with female directors decreases.
While the percentage of businesses with female directors generating low sales revenue in
the long term is relatively high, the likelihood of having a male director increases as business
revenue increases. As the size of the business expands, the participation of female owners
declines more than that of female directors.

Figure 32. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by prem-
ises ownership of production and services, by gender of director, by percentage
20.4% OWNED BY THE BUSINESS
19.1%
25.5% PROPRIETARY OF THE FOUNDER
28.4%
32.1% RENTED
34.6%
13.5% 16.8% OWNED BY THE HOUSEHOLD
2.9%
3.5% SHARED OFFICE
0.8%
0.8% OTHERS
0.6%

1.0% NO PLACE Managed by female director
Regarding the ownership of premises where enterprises conduct production and services, 45.9% of all enterprises
with male directors own the premises where they conduct production and services, or have premises owned by the
enterprise or its founder. However, this indicator is 47.6% for enterprises with female directors. Enterprises with
female directors are lower in terms of income than enterprises with male directors, but the ownership of production
and service premises is relatively high.
64
Figure 33. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that operated in 2020, by sales income
group, by premises ownership of production and services, by gender of director, by percentage
Up to 300 300 million – 1 1 – 2.4 2.5 billion MNT

million MNT billion MNT billion MNT and more
58.2% 61.8% 69.0% 72.3% OWNED BY THE

BUSINESS
41.8% 38.2% 31.0% 27.7%
56.1% 58.5% 60.4% 69.1% PROPRIETARY OF

THE FOUNDER
43.9% 41.5% 39.6% 30.9%
54.3% 63.8% 66.5% 71.4%

RENTED
45.7% 36.2% 33.5% 28.6%
64.0% 70.0% 65.5% 78.7%

OWNED BY THE
36.0% 30.0% 34.5% 21.3% HOUSEHOLD
61.9% 65.5% 74.5% 70.4%

SHARED
38.1% 34.5% 25.5% 29.6% OFFICE
56.1% 54.3% 100.0% 85.7%

OTHERS
43.9% 45.7% 0.0% 14.3%
67.8% 77.6% 100.0% 61.5%

NO PLACE
32.2% 22.4% 0.0% 38.5%

EXPORTS AND INTERNATIONAL SUPPLY CHAIN
Out of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens op-

erating in 2020, 3.8% or 1.5 thousand enterprises are exporting its prod-
ucts and services. Of these, 552 enterprises export products and services
for regular basis, while 965 export products and services for occasional
or irregular basis.
When 63.6% of enterprises that export products and services are managed
by men and 36.4% are managed by women, 27.0% are owned by women
for 51% or more, and 26.7% are owned by women for 33.4% or more with
a female director. 61.1% of enterprises that regularly export products and
services have male directors and 38.9% have female directors.
Of the enterprises managed by citizens of Mongolia that operated in 2020,

97 enterprises were involved in the international supply chain, of which
48.5% had male directors and 51.5% had female directors.
Interestingly, 57.9% of the enterprises that export products and services

are small enterprises with a sales income of up to 300 million MNT. Also,
in terms of the number of employees, 64.3% of the total enterprises that
export products and services are enterprises with 1-9 employees.
Enterprises with a sales income of more than 2.5 billion MNT make up
17.3% of enterprises that export products. Enterprises with 200 or more
employees make up only 3.2% of enterprises that export products and
services.
Small enterprises tend to export products and services more than large
enterprises, which is generally the same when considering the gender of
the company director.
66
Figure 34. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by whether they
export products or services, by gender of the director, by female owner
255 251 155 154
628 337 337 215
OCCASIONAL REGULAR
2.4% 965 1.4% 552
Total
EXPORT PRODUCTS
AND SERVICES
33.4% or more owned by
women and managed by a 1 517
female director
3.8%
40 306
Enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens that operated in 2020

3.2
In 2020, 37.0% of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens have loans
and 63.0% have no loans.
Considering the tendency to generate financing by loan in terms of gender of

the director, the percentage of enterprises managed by women with loan is
BUSINESS 0.9% lower than that of enterprisesmanaged by man with loans.
FINANCING, The percentage of enterprises with loan is 37.1-37.9 among enterprises

INVESTMENT owned by women.
AND GENDER
DIFFERENCES
68
Figure 35. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by loan,
by gender of the director, by female owner, by percentage
62.1%
62.6% NO LOAN
15 089 WITH LOAN
37.4%
9 003 37.9%
36.5% 37.1%
5 913
62.9%
63.5%
10 301


Figure 36. Number of enterprises with loans managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number
of employees group, by gender of the director, by female owner, by percentage
10-
emp 49
loyee
s
57.6% Funding from credit sources is higher

53.1
% as the number of employees of the en-
2 149 terprise increases. In total, the credit
1 08 participation of enterprises with female
2
directors and owners is the same, but for
enterprises with 200 or more employees,
1-9
60% the participation in loans is higher for
employees
em 50-1
plo 99 enterprises with female owners. 66.7%
59% ye
es
32.3% 33.3% 64 of enterprises with 200 or more em-
.1% ployees with female directors received
6 297 4 602 45 63 loans, 73.1% of enterprises with 51% or
1 .0%
more owned by women, and 70.8% of
18 enterprises with 33.4% or more owned
7
35%
71
by women and with female directors re-
%
ceived loans.
34%
68
%
20 ploy
0 o ee
em
68
rm s
.4%
ore
10
6
66
.7%
42
73
%
71
%
37.0% Managed by male director
Enterprises with loan Managed by female director
14 916 51% or more owned by women
33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a

female director
70
Figure 37. Number of enterprises with loans managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sales
income group, by gender of the director, by female owner, by percentage
–1
0 m illion T
30 n MN
billio
Financing from credit sources is higher
as the number of employees of the enter-
% 51.3%
prise increases, the same replies to en- 52.0
3
terprises as the sales income increases, 1 49
0
2 54
so the access to loans is higher. Also, as
55%
the number of employees increases, the
percentage of women-owned enterprises Up to 300
54% million MNT
participating in loans is higher. ion
l
bil
2 .4 T
1 – MN
For enterprises with male and female % 28.9% 30.4%
.7
directors, access to loans is generally 66
the same, but according to the SME loan .5 % 8 4 803 3 705
data by the Bank of Mongolia, the amount
61 27
5 31%
of loans received by women is lower than 51
71% 31%
that of men, which should be considered.
%
70
ore NT
dm M
an llion
.8%
bi
2.5
62
7
43
3%
65.
%
67
45
11
%
70
Managed by male director 37.0%

Managed by female director Enterprises with loan
14 916
female director

Looking at the source of credit, the majority of the enterprises or 77.6% are taking loans from banks. It is worth noting
that 16.3% of them take loans from individuals, which has higher loan interest than organizations such as NBFI and
SCC, which may depends on the terms and conditions of the loan.
Figure 38. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by loan origination, by
gender of the director, by female owner, by duplicated number, by percentage
Total Managed by male Managed by 51% or more 33.4% or more owned

owned by women by women and
director female director managed by a female
director
Bank 77.6% 76.8% 78.9% 80.5% 80.3%
11 580 6 913 4 667
Individual 16.3% 17.1% 15.2% 14.9% 15.1%

2 436 1 538 898
SME
development 8.6% 8.7% 8.5% 8.4% 8.6%
fund 786 504
1 290
NBFI 8.4% 9.4% 6.8% 7.0% 6.5%

1 252 848 404
Others 3.0% 3.1% 2.7% 2.0% 1.8%

443 282 161
SCC 114 71 43
0.8% 0.8% 0.7% 0.7% 0.6%
Women tend to take loans from banks more than men, and take loans from individuals is less than men. Women may
have more interest in borrowing from a less risky and reliable institution.
In recent years, domestic banks and financial institutions have started to offer financial products specifically for
women, and since there is no common definition of a female entrepreneur, each institution defines it differently and
sets different criteria.
72
In 2020, 63.0% of the enterprises managed by citizens of Mongolia or 25.4 thousand enterprises did not receive
any loans. Considering the reasons, 47.4% do not need to apply for loans, while 36.8% could not apply for loans due
to lack of collateral and other credit criteria. Also 35.1% of enterprises with female directors could not get a loan
because they did not meet the credit criteria, while 37.9% of enterprises with male directors could not get a loan for
the same reason.
Figure 39. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by reason of non
granted loan, by gender of the director, by female owner, by duplicated number, by percentage
Total Managed by male Managed by 51% or more 33.4% or more owned

owned by women by women and
director female director managed by a female
director
Do not need 47.4% 46.4% 48.9% 46.1% 46.5%

to apply
12 035 6 996 5 039
Lack of collateral
and other credit 36.8% 37.9% 35.1% 37.1% 36.8%
criteria
9 342 5 726 3 616
Poor access to
credit from 14.8% 15.2% 14.2% 15.0% 14.8%
lending institutions 3 751 2 290 1 461
Bureaucracy of
lending 10.6% 10.8% 10.1% 10.5% 10.7%
institutions 2 680 1 637 1 043
Not a VAT payer 5.8% 4.9% 5.3% 5.5% 5.5%

1 281 732 549
Others 84 53 31
0.3% 0.4% 0.3% 0.4% 0.3%
For enterprises with female owners, the percentage is generally the same. The issue of financing is the most import-
ant to support the business sector, and the level of credit participation of enterprises with male and female directors
is generally the same, and the problems they face are similar, but the loan amount and term are different, which
indicates need for more differentiated and effective policy in developing financial products.
FOREIGN INVESTMENT
In 2020, 1.7% of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens were foreign-invested enterprises. Of
which 1.6% of enterprises with male directors and 1.8% of enterprises with female directors are foreign-invested en-
terprises. But in terms of ownership, 0.9% of enterprises with 51% or more ownership by women, 0.8% of enterprises
with 33.4% or more owned by women and with female directors has foreign investment.
Figure 40. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens oper-

ating in 2020, by foreign investment, by gender of the director, by female
owner, by percentage
Total
1.7% female director
1.6%
1.8%
0.9%
0.8% ENTERPRISES WITH FOREIGN

INVESTMENT
682 397 285 119 106
Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that

operated in 2020
40 306
74
Considering foreign investment as a percentage of investment, the majority of enterprises with foreign investment
have 80% or more foreign investment.
Figure 41. Percentage of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens with foreign investment in 2020, by
percentage of foreign investment, by gender of the director, by female owner, by percentage
PERCENTAGE OF FOREIGN INVESTMENT
81-100% 51-80% 31-50% 0-30%
Total 52.3% 15.1% 15.5% 17.0%
Managed by male 51.1% 16.1% 16.4% 16.4%

director
Managed by female 54.0% 13.7% 14.4% 17.9%

director
51% or more owned by

women 16.8% 22.7% 26.1% 34.5%
33.4% or more owned

by women and
managed by a female
17.9% 23.6% 24.5% 34.0%
director

4
SKILLS IN
BUSINESS
and
GENDER
4.1 Gender differences in the workplace

4.2 Gender differences in average wages

4.1
The male-dominated approach in management and ownership in business
persists in non-management skills and workplaces.
In 2020, 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by citizens of Mongolia have a

total of 419.6 thousand employees, of which 58.5% are men and 41.5% are
GENDER women and the gender ratio of employees, or the number of male employ-
DIFFERENCES ees per 100 female employees, is 141.
IN THE As women's participation in the labor market is lower than men's, there is
WORKPLACE also a gender imbalance in the number of employees in the business sec-
tor. An imbalanced gender ratio in the workforce not only creates gender
inequality in the workplace, but can also affect gender balance in social,
economic, and political life.
The weak participation of women in the labor market can be explained by

statistics related to educational ambition, the responsibilities assigned to
them to take care of children and family members, and early retirement.
In addition, the data of women engaged in business activities that are not
registered as enterprises is needed to look at. For example, according to the
2021 Census of Enterprises, 39.6% of the enterprises managed by citizens
of Mongolia have female directors, while 53.3% of the self-employed are
female.
As shown in the previous chapters, enterprises with female di-

rectors and owners were generally less likely to have more
% 41. employees than enterprises with male directors and
58.5 5% owners. Women are creating jobs, but their contri-
s
e bution to job creation is small. An enterprise with
Fe
ye
a male director has an average of 12 employees,

ma
plo
le
em
while an enterprise with a female director has an

em p
Male
average of 8 employees. As the number of em-
419 556
loyees
ployees increases, the participation of women in

management decreases.
Figure 42. Number of

enterprises managed by Mongo-
lian citizens operating in 2020, by
number of employees, by gender
of employees
245 330 174 226
78
The gender ratio of employees is also different for enterprises with male and female directors of Mongolian citizens.
In 2020, 65.1% of all employees of enterprises with male directors were male and 34.9% were female. But in enter-
prises with female directors, 44.1% of all employees are men and 55.9% are women.
In the case of enterprises with a Mongolian female director, female employees predominate in terms of gender, while
in the case of enterprises with a male director, male employees predominate in terms of gender, and the gender ratio
is further lost.
The gender ratio of employees is generally the same for enterprises with female directors and female owners.
Figure 43. Number of enterprises managed

by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by
MANAGED BY gender of employees, by gender of directors,
MALE DIRECTOR by female owner
34
% .
.1
9%
65
Fem
es
oye
MANAGED BY
le em
Male empl
FEMALE DIRECTOR
p
287 024
loyees
55.9%
% Fem
4.1 al
4
ee
s
yee
mp
loye
Male emplo
es
132 532
186 922 100 102 58 408 74 124
51% or more owned

by women
54.
women and managed by
5%
%
a female director
Fe
.5
ma
le em yees 45
le em
57.5%
Fe
84 841 m
ployees
plo
ale
%
2.5
em
ployees 4
Ma
ployees
81 503
m
le e
Ma

Figure 44. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees
group, by sector, by male director, by percentage
The proportion of enterprises with female

directors is distinguished by the number of
employees and by sector. Although each
200 or more employees
sector has its own characteristics, the par-
%
ticipation of female directors decreases as .0
50-199 employees 72
the enterprise grows. %
. 1% 0.0
89 10
10-49 employees
9% .9% 6%
1-9 employees 85
. 91 78.
5% .3% 80.
8%
. 78 %
81 81.5
.1% 2%
81. %
81 77.4
%
3% % 80.0
Mining and quarrying 79. 73.5 %
% 85.7
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 74.0 82.8
%
85.7%
Construction
Transportation and storage 65.2
% 86.2%
73.1%
73.1% 100.0%
remediation activities 75.0%
76.2%
Information and communication 69.0%
70.3%
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 70.6%
63.9%
Manufacturing 62.3%
Administrative and support service activities 66.1% 60.0%
60.0% 65.9%
57.8% 62.0% 71.9% 85.7%
Real estate activities
Arts, entertainment and recreation 58.6% 59.4%
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of 52.2%
54.0% 0.0%
motor vehicles and motorcycles 72.7%
Other service activities 66.7%
55.2 100.0
Financial and insurance activities % 63.4 %
Accommodation and food 53. %
5% 63.3
%
service activities
46. 54. 69.7
8% %
Education 3%
57.
Human health and social work activities 45 60. 1%
.5% 0% 0.0
36 84. %
.3% 54 8%
.3%
62.
40 38 5%
27
.1% .8%
.4
%
46 40
.4% .0%
27
.2
%
50
.0%
51
.9
%
For a few industries, such as accommodation

and food, real estate, vehicle repair and trade,
30
.0
%
the percentage of enterprises with female di-

rectors increases as the number of employees
increased.
80
Figure 45. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees,
by sector, by female director, by female owner, by percentage
%
30
200 or more employees %
10
.0%
%
70 25
%
41 50
%
50-199 employees %
.0%
41
.1% 50
%
48 %
18
%
%
0%
46 13 10
10-49 employees
.6% .0%
%
37
53 60
.8% %
72 35
% 37
%
% 31 25%
35
.2%
%
67 25%
1-9 employees
.9% 61 5%
37.
%
63
59
.6%
%
% 34 3%
50 %
72
36 15%
.7% 2%
%
48
15.
0%
.7% 45 0%
63 15%
0.0%
%
48
45
% 21% 29%
.5% 0%
40.
29%
%
Human health and social work activities 54 33%
42%
42.9 6%
33% 3%
7%
5% %
Education
53. 45.2
%4 19% 30.3
0%
Accommodation and food 41% %2
%
38% 36.7
46.5
7%
% 2
service activities % 28
36.6 0% 0%
Financial and insurance activities 39%

40%
0% 0.0%
% 33%
Other service activities

44.8 27%
27% 33.3%
27% 33% 27.3%
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of
46.0% 17% 13% 100.0%
50% 50%
motor vehicles and motorcycles 23% 47.8%

40.6% 22
%
29% 30%
Arts, entertainment and recreation 41.4%
Real estate activities 14.3% 0%
28.1% 13% 13% 0%
42.2% 31% 35% 38.0% 31% 28%
40.0% 31% 32% 34.1% 25% 33.9% 19%
Administrative and support service activities
24% 16% 40.0% 20% 20%
Manufacturing 37.7% 31% 33%

Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting
36.1% 28% 28%
29.4% 19% 16%
Information and communication 31.0% 29.7% 8% 8%
24%

24%
23.8% 16
%
26.9 12%
25.0%
remediation activities % 21% 0% 1
20%
26.9
3%
0.0% 0%
Transportation and storage 34.8 % 12% 0%
% 24%
13%
13.8
Construction 26% %
26. 17.2 10%
3%
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 0% % 14.3
23% 0%
3%
% 14%
Mining and quarrying 20 22% 14.3 0%
.7% 26. %
18 5% 2 7%
4%
18 %
17
0 % 20.0
.9% %
18
19%
22. % 20%
18 1 8% .8% 6% 20%
.5% 15
%
15
%
22%
19%
21 14
% 18.
1
2% .7% 19 5%
11
% 1
.2% 15%
7%
14 15
8% 15%
.1% %
8.1
8%
21
1 4% % .4%
7% 8% 14
%
10 3% 7%
.9% 0.0
Managed by male director %
11
% 6%
Managed by female director 5%
28 0%
51% or more owned by women .0%

16
%
33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a female director 16
%

Figure 46. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employ-
ees group, by gender of employees, by gender of director, by female owner
TOTAL
TOTAL 419 556 84 841 81 503
132 532
287 024
MALE
EMPLOYEES 245 330 38 644 34 609
58 408
186 922
FEMALE
EMPLOYEES 174 226 46 197 46 894
74 124
100 102
Total
Managed by male director 51% or more owned by women 33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a
Managed by female director female director
82
Figure 47. Number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by number of employees group,
by gender of employees, by gender of director, by female owner, by region
WESTERN KHANGAI CENTRAL EASTERN ULAANBAATAR

REGION REGION REGION REGION
16 938 31 151 35 408 9 378
TOTAL 326 681

4 043 8 254 10 997 2 766
6 612
12 895
22 897 24 411
106 472
2 955 5 562 8 399 2 209
220 209
3 056 5 671 7 671 1 965
65 716 63 140
10 752 17 679 22 575 5 323

MALE
EMPLOYEES 1 535 2 901 5 076 951 189 001
9 217 4 372
14 778 17 499 47 945
141 056
1 103 1 913 4 151 767
1 073 1 804 3 344 622 30 710 27 766
6 186 13 472 12 833 4 055
FEMALE 2 508 5 353 5 921 1 815 137 680

EMPLOYEES 3 678
8 119 6 912
2 240
58 527
79 153
1 852 3 649 4 248 1 442
1 983 3 867 4 327 1 343 35 006 35 374
Total
Managed by male director 51% or more owned by women 33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a
Managed by female director female director

Figure 48. Gender ratio of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens
operating in 2020, by region
33.4% or more
51% or more
Managed by Managed owned by women
Total owned by
male director by female women
and managed by a
female director
director
174 251
WESTERN REGION 61 60 54
131 182
KHANGAI REGION 54 52 47
176 253 86 98 77
CENTRAL REGION
EASTERN REGION 131 195 52 53 46
ULAANBAATAR 137 178 82 88 78
The gender ratio of employees also varies by province and capital. There are 131 male workers for every 100 female
workers in Khangai region and Eastern region, and 174-176 male workers in Western region and Central region.
In all regions and in Ulaanbaatar, the gender ratio of employees is dominated by men. The ratio is 137 in Ulaanbaatar.
84
Figure 49. Gender ratio of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operat-
ing in 2020, by legal type
33.4% or more
51% or more
Total Managed by Managed by owned by
owned by women
male director female director and managed by
women
a female director
371
191 135
186
JSC 103
142 190 83 84 77
LLC
PARTNERSHIP 44 120 22 26 27
121 164
COOPERATIVE 67 64 55
STATE OWNED
ENTERPRISE /
LOCAL
STATE-OWNED 168 181 114 76 58
ENTERPRISE
OTHERS 37 51 31 26 29
The gender ratio also differs in all legal types of enterprises. The gender ratio is higher in JSCs, SOEs, and LLCs, while
the gender ratio is relatively low in cooperatives and partnerships. Also, in terms of the gender of the director, it is ob-
served that the gender ratio is high in businesses with male directors, and the gender ratio is low or relatively stable in
businesses with female directors.

Figure 50. Proportion of male and female employees among the total employees of enterprises with male
directors managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector
Gender ratio of
MANAGED BY MALE DIRECTOR employees
81.1% 18.9%
Transportation and storage 429
79.2% 20.8%
Mining 381
76.0% 24.0%
Administration 317
74.8% 25.2%
Construction and infrastructure 298
73.9% 26.1%
Repair and trade of vehicles 283
70.5% 29.5% худалдаа
Agriculture 239
65.1% 34.9%
Wholesale trade 186
63.7% 36.3%
Manufacturing 175
61.6% 38.4%
Science 160
61.1% 38.9%
Others 157
53.4% 46.6%
Real estate 115
53.4% 46.6%
Art and entertainment 115
51.0% 49.0%
Retail trade 104
41.1% 58.9%
Finance and insurance 70
41.1% 58.9%
Accommodation and food 70
36.5% 63.5%
Education 57
26.8% 73.2%
Health 37
65.1% 34.9%
Total 187
The gender ratio of employees is generally male-dominated, with some differences by sectors. For example, the
proportion of female workers in health and education is higher, and more than half of workers are women in health,
education, accommodation and food, finance, insurance, other services, wholesale and retail, art, entertainment, and
real estate.
Male employees Female employees
86
Figure 51. Proportion of male and female employees among the total employees of enterprises with fe-
male directors managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by sector
Gender ratio of
employees MANAGED BY FEMALE DIRECTOR
81.8% 18.2%
22 Health
74.4% 25.6%
34 Education
69.0% 31.0%
45 Retail trade
67.5% 32.5%
48 Finance and insurance
64.1% 35.9%
56 Accommodation and food
59.5% 40.5%
68 Science
55.0% 45.0%
82 Manufacturing
54.0% 46.0%
85 Real estate
53.5% 46.5%
87 Wholesale trade
51.7% 48.3%
93 Others
49.0% 51.0%
104 Agriculture
48.8% 51.2%
105 Repair and trade of vehicles
худалдаа 45.4% 54.6%
120 Art and entertainment
39.7% 60.3%
152 Administration
29.8% 70.2%
235 Construction and infrastructure
20.7% 79.3%
383 Transportation and storage
18.3% 81.7%
447 Mining
55.9% 44.1%
79 Total
Most sectors are dominated by men, with the least number of women working in mining and construction. On the
other hand, the sector with the most balanced gender ratio of employees is the science sector.
Unbalanced gender ratio of employees of the enterprise indicates the loss of gender balance in the labor market, and
recalls the need to support women's employment and pay attention to the gender ratio of career choices.
Male employees Female employees

4.2
There is a wage gap between male and female workers in the business la-
bor market. The average salary of enterprises that operated in 2020 is 1.1
million MNT, the average salary of male employees is 1.4 million MNT, and
the average salary of female employees is 912 thousand MNT. The average
salary of male employees of enterprises operating in 2020 is 49.0% higher
GENDER than that of women.
DIFFERENCES The certain percentage of the wage gap can be explained by the differences
IN AVERAGE of the industries in which men and women work. Men are more likely to
WAGES work in mining, agriculture, and manufacturing, which account for a higher
percentage of GDP. Also, it can be seen from the statistics of industrial ac-
cident victims (71.6% of industrial accident victims are men on average in
2016-2022) that men work in higher risk workplaces8. The gender wage gap
in the business sector needs to be examined in detail for equally valued jobs,
positions and skills.
Considering the gender of the director, companies with female directors pay
an average of 15.4% higher wages than companies with male directors.
8
Industrial accident victims statistics, NSO
88
Figure 52. Average salary of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020,
by gender of employees, by gender of director, thousand MNT
AVERAGE SALARY OF MALE

EMPLOYEES
1 892
1 359
AVERAGE SALARY OF
EMPLOYEES 1 133
1 144
AVERAGE SALARY OF FEMALE

EMPLOYEES
1 052
991 1 039
912
792
Total

Total Figure 53. Average salary of employees of enterprises managed by
Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by gender of employees, by
gender of director, by number of employees group, thousand MNT
MALE FEMALE
TOTAL
EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES
1 052 1 359 912
991 1 133 792

Total
1 144 1 892 1 039
919 1 131 789
1-9 861 982 522

employees
1 001 1 500 1 028
1 804 2 363 1 361
10-49 1 625 1 805 1 512

employees
2 133 3 465 1 097
1 076 1 270 1 066
50-199 1 108 1 219 1 090

employees
1 000 1 390 1 009
1 430 1 529 1 499
200 or more 1 533 1 660 1 576

employees
1 179 1 201 1 312
90
Gender differences in wages will affect many indicators such as the income level, quality of life, financial indepen-
dence, and even the amount of pensions, so it is necessary to study the gender imbalance of salary in detail and
reflect it to the policy in Mongolia.
Figure 54. Average salary of employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020,
by gender of employees, by gender of director, by sales income group, thousand MNT
TOTAL MALE FEMALE

EMPLOYEES EMPLOYEES
1 052 1 359 912
991 1 133 792

Total
1 144 1 892 1 039
999 1 292 860
Up to 300 million 1 010 1 169 701

MNT
985 1 592 994
1 243 1 645 983
300 million – 1 874 973 822

billion MNT
1 864 3 046 1 211
864 958 898
1 – 2.4 billion 873 995 886

MNT
846 875 921
1 166 1 322 1 164
2.5 billion MNT 1 195 1 315 1 178

and more
1 092 1 340 1 127

5
TECHNOLOGY,
INNOVATION,
R&D
and
GENDER
5.1 Technology use and gender differences

5.2 Innovation adoption and gender differences
5.3 R&D and gender differences
5.1
The development of the business sector cannot progress without technol-
ogy, innovation and R&D. The business sector contributes to solving social
problems by leading the economy with creation new technologies and know-
how and by introducing new products and services.
TECHNOLOGY In the census of enterprises, information on technology, innovation and R&D

of the business sector has started to be compiled, which is important for
USE AND the creation of a database of the technology and knowledge sector and for
GENDER determining policies based on it.
DIFFERENCES
In 2020, 81.8% or 33.0 thousand of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed
by Mongolian citizens are using computers and smart devices in daily oper-
ations. Looking at the gender of the enterprise director, 80.9% of enterpris-
es with male directors and 83.2% of enterprises with female directors use
computers and smart devices in their operations. The use of computers and
smart devices in the operations of female-owned enterprises is generally
the same as that of enterprises with female directors.
Even 92.5% of the 33.0 thousand enterprises that use computers and smart
devices in their operations, only up to 9% of their employees regularly use
computers. The use of computers and smart devices by employees in their
work is slightly more prevalent in enterprises with female directors. It may
depend on the specifics of the sector.
Figure 55. The number of enterprises managed by Mon-

golian citizens operating in 2020, by use of computers
and smart devices in their operations, by gender of direc-
tor, by female owners, by percentage
Managed by female
director 83.2%
13 489
51% or more owned
by women 82.7%
10 796

women and managed by a
female director 82.5%
Total 81.8%
11 012
32 986
Managed by male 80.9%

director
19 497
94
Figure 56. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens operating in 2020, by number of employess that use
computers and smart devices regularly, by gender of director,
by female owners, by percentage
0% (92) 0.5% 0.5% (61)

0.5% (50)
0.5% (55)
0-9% 91.6% (17 862) (12 513) 92.8%

(10 228) 94.7%
(10 469) 92.8%
95.1%
10-19% (849) 4.4% 4.2% (573)

3.2% (341)
3.0% (328)
20-49% (446) 2.3% 1.8% (245)

1.3% (139)
1.2% (127)
50-79% (101) 0.5% 0.3% (42)

0.2% (18)
0.2% (19)
80% or more (147) 0.8% 0.4% (55)

0.2% (20)
0.1% (14)
When comparing the sales revenue and the num-

ber of employees, the use of computers and
smart devices in its operations is increasing as
the enterprise grows.
95.2% of enterprises with a sales income of more

than 2.5 billion MNT use computers and smart
devices in their operations, while 97.7% of enter- Managed by Managed by
male director female director
prises with 200 or more employees use comput-
ers and smart devices. Enterprises with female 51% or more owned by women
directors are slightly more likely to use comput-
ers and smart devices than those with male di- 33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a
rectors. female director

Figure 57. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operat-
ing in 2020, by percentage of use of computers and smart devices, by number
of employees group, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage
26 310 79.0%
15 132 77.6%
1-9
11 178 80.9%
employees
9 224 80.8%
9 489 80.6%
5 488 95.1%
3 531 94.6%
10-49
1 957 96.1%
employees
1 376 96.1%
1 349 95.9%
975 97.4%
684 97.2%
291 98.0% 50-199

employees
170 99.4%
150 98.0%
213 97.7%
150 96.8%
63 100.0%
200 or more
employees
26 100.0%
24 100.0%
Total
96
Figure 58. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating
in 2020, by percentage of use of computers and smart devices, by sales income
group, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage
77.3% 22 272
75.6% 12 555
Up to 300 million 79.7% 9 717
MNT 79.3% 7 883
79.3% 8 172
92.0% 7 177
91.4% 4 466
300 million – 1
93.2% 2 711
billion MNT
92.8% 2 146
92.5% 2 146
96.1% 1 205
95.8% 802
1 – 2.4 billion
96.6% 403
MNT
96.7% 323
96.5% 306
95.2% 2 332
2.5 billion 95.5% 1 674

MNT and 658
94.5%
more 96.9% 444
96.3% 388
Total

In 2020, 70.1% or 28.2 thousand of the 40.3 thousand enterprises managed by citizens of Mongo-
lia, use the network in their operations. Enterprises with female directors are slightly more likely to
use networks in their operations than enterprises with male directors.
In 2020, 57.3% of enterprises managed by citizens of Mongolia are using the Internet in their op-
erations. The percentage of regular Internet use is also slightly higher in enterprises with female
directors.
Furthermore, 11.1% or 4.5 thousand of the enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating
in 2020 have a database, and 11.9% or 4.8 thousand have a data server.
The information and communications sector has the highest number of enterprises (29.2%) with
data servers, and 29.9% of enterprises with male directors have data servers, while 27.3% of enter-
prises with female directors have data servers. It can be seen that enterprises with male directors
tend to use data technologies more.
98
Figure 59. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of network
for operation, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage
70.1% 69.0% 71.7% 71.1% 70.5%
28 238 16 614 11 624 9 272 9 412
Figure 60. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by regular use of
internet for operation, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage
57.3% 56.4% 58.7% 59.2% 58.7%
23 099 13 578 9 521 7 730 7 841
Figure 61. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of data-
base for operation, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage
11.1% 11.1% 11.2% 9.6% 9.3%
4 492 2 681 1 811 1 253 1 245
Figure 62. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020, by use of server
for operation, by gender of director, by female owners, by percentage

11.9% 11.7% 12.3% 10.6% 10.4%
4 815 2 818 1 997 1 388 1 386
Total

5.2
In 2018-2021, 8.0% or 4.4 thousand enterprises of 58.8 thousand enterpris-
es managed by Mongolian citizens, introduced new or significantly improved
product and service innovations. Considering the difference in the gender
of the director, innovation adoption is slightly higher for enterprises with fe-
male directors than for enterprises with male directors.
INNOVATION
In terms of the type of innovation, enterprises have introduced the innova-
ADOPTION tion of information and communication system and organization and man-
AND agement the most. 59.9% of the 4.4 thousand enterprises that have intro-
GENDER duced innovations are managed by male directors and 40.1% are managed
by female directors.
DIFFERENCES
that operated in 2018-2021, by percentage of new or significantly
improved product and service innovations introduced in 2018-2021,
by gender of director, by female owners
8.1%
Introduced new or significantly 8.0%
improved product and service
1 782
innovations in 2018-2021
4 443 7.9%
2.4% 2.5%
2 661 1 354 1 393
55 843
Enterprises managed
Introduced business process 17.3% by citizens of Mon-
innovation in 2018-2021 golia that operated in
17.2%
2018-2021
5 840
16.9%
Total
9 590

3 750
33.4% or more owned by women and 5.1% 5.3%

2 867 2 945
100
Figure 64. The number of enterprises managed by Mon-
golian citizens that operated in 2018-2021and introduced
business process innovation, by type of innovation, by
gender of director, by female owners, by duplicated num-
bers, by percentage
PRODUCTS AND SERVICES (1 309) 22.4% 16.4% (614)

15.6% (447)
15.2% (448)
DISTRIBUTION AND (1 997) 34.2% 32.1% (1 203)

LOGISTICS
33.3% (955)
33.5% (988)
MARKETING SALES
ACTIVITIES (2 025) 34.7% 38.0% (1 426)
37.6% (1 079)
37.9% (1 117)
PRODUCT AND BUSINESS (2 419) 41.4% 41.4% (1 554)

PROCESS DEVELOPMENT
40.2% (1 153)
40.8% (1 201)
ORGANIZATION 43.8%
(2 558) 47.9% (1 798)
AND
MANAGEMENT 45.7% (1 309)
46.0% (1 354)
INFORMATION (3 125)
53.5% 55.6% (2 085)
AND
COMMUNICATION 54.0% (1 547)
SYSTEMS
53.5% (1 575)

female director

Figure 65. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that intro-
102
duced new or significantly improved product and service innovations in 2018-2021,
by gender of director, by female owners, by sector
Total
1 164 2 008
Wholesale and retail trade; repair of motor 844
vehicles and motorcycles 666
708
676 1 058
382
Manufacturing 288
300
376 501
Information and communication 125
83
81
293
470
Professional, scientific and technical activities 177
138
139
332
83 415
Construction 83
71
138
Human health and social work activities 261 399
204
222
185
139 324
Administrative and support service activities 119
119
125 Managed by male director

Accommodation and food service activities 126 251
102 51% or more owned by women
33.4% or more owned by women and
141 managed by a female director
Financial and insurance activities 106 247
54
36
Figure 65. /continuation/ The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian
citizens that introduced new or significantly improved product and service inno-
vations in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owners, by sector
In 2018-2021, looking at the introduction of new or significantly
Total improved product and service innovations by sector, trade and
221 manufacturing sectors enterprises introduced more innova-
88
133 tions with both male and female directors. Although, enterpris-
Education 76
81 es with male directors tend to introduce more innovations than
enterprises with female directors, in the health and education
136 215 sectors, enterprises with female directors are more innovative
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 79
45 than enterprises with male directors.
46
120 160
40
Transportation and storage 30
29
73 80
Electricity, gas, steam and air 7
11
conditioning supply 7
44 67
23
Real estate activities 21
17
35 61
26
Other service activities 24
24
35 39
4
Mining and quarrying 3
3

30 39
Water supply, sewerage, waste management 7
and remediation activities 51% or more owned by women
7
7
Arts, entertainment and recreation 11 18
7
ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023

8
103
Figure 66. Cost of innovation activities in 2020 of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in
2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owner, billion MNT
Enterprises operating in 2018-2021 spent a total of 213.2 billion MNT on innovation activities in 2020. A total of 1.9
thousand enterprises incurred innovation costs in 2020, or one enterprise spends an average of 112.1 million MNT
on innovation costs.
Number of Cost of innovation activity,

enterprises billion MNT
1 901 213.2
1 131 55.2
770 157.9
547 146.8
559 146.8
Total
104
Figure 67. Cost of innovation activities in 2020 for per enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operat-
ing in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owner, million MNT
Enterprises with female directors, includ-

ing female owners, invest more in innova-
tion activities. An enterprise with a male
director spent an average of 48.8 million
MNT on innovation activities, while an en-
Total
terprise with a female director spent an av-
erage of 205.1 million MNT. 268.4 million 112.1
MNT was spent by enterprises owned by
women for 51% or more.
Managed by
male director 48.8
Managed by
female director
205.1
51% or more
owned by women
268.4
33.4% or more
owned by wom-
en and managed
by a female
director
262.6

5.3
In general, there is a low tendency for business R&D to be implemented,
2.1% or 1.2 thousand enterprises of 55.8 thousand enterprises operating in
2018-2021, carried out R&D activity in 2018-2021.
In 2018-2021, a total of 3.1 thousand basic research works, 2.4 thousand

R&D AND applied research works, and 4.1 thousand experimental development works
were carried out. In terms of R&D, enterprises with male directors are more
GENDER concerned than enterprises with female directors.
DIFFERENCES

that conducted R&D in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female
owners, by percentage
2.2%
736
2.1%
1 161
1.9%
55 843
425 Enterprises
managed by cit-
izens of Mongo-
1.7% 1.7% lia that operated
in 2018-2021
303 317
Total

106
Figure 69. The number of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that conducted R&D in 2018-2021,
by gender of director, by female owners, by sector, by duplicated number
484
367
117
284
157
127
200
127
73
88
85
88
95
54
60
ENGINEERING AND SOCIAL NATURAL
TECHNOLOGY
179
110
101
69
50
51
28
27
44
50
43
43
55
16
19
AGRICULTURAL AND MEDICINE AND HUMANITARIAN AND
VETERINARY MEDICINE HEALTHCARE ARTISTIC
39
20
19
12
11
OTHERS
Total

Figure 70. The number of R&D work done by enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that conducted
R&D in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owners
Number of
basic research
works 3 057 1 637 1 420 675 680
Number of
applied research
projects 2 413 1 388 1 025 611 641
Number of testing
and development
jobs 4 064 2 801 1 263 608 575
Figure 71. The cost of R&D work done by enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that
conducted R&D in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owners
10.3
7.4
3.0
1.7
1.6
Enterprises operating in 2018-2021 spent a total of 10.3 billion MNT on R&D activities in 2020. A total of 1.2 thousand
enterprises spent on R&D activities in 2020. The average R&D expense per enterprise was 8.9 million MNT.
Total
108
Figure 72. The expense of R&D in 2020 per enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens in 2020, by gender
of director, by female owners, million MNT
10.0
8.9
7.0
5.4
5.2
An enterprise with a male director spent an average of 10.0 million MNT on R&D activities, while an enterprise with a
female director spent an average of 7.0 million MNT.
Figure 73. Share of 2020 expenses to sales revenue of per enterprise managed by a
Mongolian citizen operating in 2018-2021, by gender of director, by female owner
0.017% 0.016% 0.019%
Total
51% or more owned by women Managed by male director

33.4% or more owned by women and managed by a female director Managed by female director

Figure 74. The number of Figure 75. The number
enterprises managed by Mon- enterprises managed by
golian citizens that operated Mongolian citizens that
in 2018-2021 and carried out introduced ISO standard
R&D work in 2018-2020, by in 2020, by gender of
gender of director, by sector director, by sector
Real estate activities 4 5 9 3

5 0 3 1
Professional, scientific and technical activities 90 42 25 20

199 111 48 57
Human health and social work activities 15 25 19 32
Accommodation and food service activities 11 13 8 15
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 36 32 6 2
Administrative and support service activities 38 29 12 14
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 13 1 16 1
Manufacturing 98 63 91 51
Financial and insurance activities 27 22 27 15
Arts, entertainment and recreation 1 4 2
Mining and quarrying 20 3 13 1
Education 17 29 9 7
Transportation and storage 16 4 17 10
Construction 63 16 31 10
Information and communication 77 18 7 3
Other service activities 6 8 4 2
Total 736 425 345 246
Managed by male Managed by female

director director
110
Figure 76. The number enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens that carried operation to support sustain-
able development goals in 2020, by gender of director, by sector
Real estate activities 124 81

40 14
Professional, scientific and technical activities 508 318

2 156 1 634
Human health and social work activities 157 384
Accommodation and food service activities 141 183
Agriculture, forestry, fishing and hunting 344 168
Administrative and support service activities 258 170
Electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply 109 22
Manufacturing 788 441
Financial and insurance activities 208 207
Arts, entertainment and recreation 14 10
Mining and quarrying 163 35
Education 115 196
Transportation and storage 238 66
Construction 826 192
Information and communication 231 90
Other service activities 48 37
Total 6 468 4 248
Managed by male Managed by female

director director

6
BUSINESS PROSPECTS,
ATTITUDES
and
GENDER
6.1 Entrepreneurship challenges and gender

differences
6.2 Impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and gender
differences
6.3 Business prospects, attitudes and gender
differences
6.1
The volume of production and services of enterprises that operated contin-
uously for 2 consecutive years before the census increased by 13.7%, 51.3%
remained unchanged, and 35.0% decreased.
On the other hand, 18.2% of enterprise income increased, 37.5% remained

ENTREPRENEUR- unchanged, and 44.4% decreased.
SHIP Figure 77. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated

CHALLENGES continuously for 2 consecutive years before the census: How did the
production and service volume of your enterprise change compared
AND to the first 9 months of 2020?
GENDER 11.9% (5 299)

DIFFERENCES 11.7% (3 131)
Increased
12.2% (2 168)
up to 50%
12.0% (1 719)
11.8% (1 741)
1.8% (797)
1.8% (482)
Increased by
1.8% (315)
50% or more
1.7% (239)
1.6% (234)
24.8% (11 073)
24.4% (6 532)
Reduced
25.4% (4 541)
up to 50%
25.8% (3 713)
10.2% (4 559)
25.9% (3 809)
10.5% (2 818)
Reduced
by 50% or 9.8% (1 741)
more
9.9% (1 425)
9.8% (1 439)
51.3% (22 871)

Total
Managed by male director 51.6% (13 793)
Managed by female director Unchanged 50.9% (9 078)

51% or more owned by women 50.7% (7 283)
managed by a female director 50.9% (7 491)
114
Figure 78. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated continuously for 2 consecutive years
before the census: How did the income of your enterprise change compared to the first 9 months of 2020?
16.0% (7 148)
15.6% (4 185)
Increased
16.6% (2 963)
up to 50%
16.4% (2 357)
16.1% (2 367)
2.2% (970)
2.2% (594)
Increased by
2.1% (376)
50% or more
2.0% (288)
2.0% (287)
31.4% (14 000)
30.6% (8 189)
Reduced 32.6% (5 811)
up to 50%
33.0% (4 742)
13.0% (5 784)
33.2% (4 879)
13.3% (3 569)
Reduced
by 50% or 12.4% (2 215)
more
12.5% (1 794)
12.4% (1 825)
37.4% (16 697)
38.2% (10 219)
Unchanged 36.3% (6 478)
36.1% (5 198)
36.4% (5 356)

Figure 79. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated continuously for 2 con-
secutive years before the census: How did the customer order size of your enterprise change
compared to the first 9 months of 2020?
10.9% (4 875)
10.6% (2 848)
Increased
11.4% (2 027)
up to 50%
11.4% (1 638)
11.3% (1 659)
1.3% (575)
1.3% (340)
Increased by
1.3% (235)
50% or more
1.3% (185)
1.2% (179)
29.1% (12 979)
28.6% (7 645)
Reduced
up to 50%
29.9% (5 334)
30.6% (4 394)
10.5% (4 676)
30.5% (4 481)
10.8% (2 894)
Reduced
10.0% (1 782)
by 50% or
more 10.1% (1 457)
10.2% (1 495)
48.2% (21 494)
48.7% (13 029)
Unchanged 47.4% (8 465)
46.6% (6 705)
46.9% (6 900)
In terms of consumer orders, 12.2% of enterprises increased, 48.2% remained unchanged, and 39.6% decreased. The
number of employees of enterprises increased by 7.3%, 76.6% remained unchanged, and 16.1% decreased.
116
Figure 80. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated continuously for 2 con-
secutive years before the census: How did the number of employees of your enterprise change
compared to the first 9 months of 2020?
6.3% (2 813)
6.5% (1 750)
Increased
6.0% (1 063)
up to 50%
5.5% (786)
5.3% (781)
1.0% (426)
1.0% (275)
Increased by
0.8% (151)
50% or more
0.8% (115)
0.8% (111)
12.2% (5 450)
12.4% (3 312)
Reduced
12.0% (2 138)
up to 50%
11.8% (1 702) 3.9% (1 726)
11.6% (1 711) 3.9% (1 043)
Reduced
by 50% or 3.8% (683)
more 3.7% (535)
3.8% (561)
76.6% (34 184)
76.2% (20 376)

Unchanged 77.4% (13 808)
78.2% (11 241)
78.5% (11 550)

6.2
More than 2 years have passed since the first case of Covid-19 pandemic
infection was registered in Mongolia on March 10, 2020. During this period,
there have been several changes, such as lockdown, business interruptions,
business models shifting to the electronic version, and employees working
from home, etc.
IMPACT OF
In 2020, it was revealed that only 12.5% of enterprises were operating nor-
THE COVID-19 mally, while 59.1% were operating remotely and in a limited scope, and
PANDEMIC 28.4% of all enterprises have completely stopped their activities.
AND GENDER
Considering the gender of the director of the enterprise, 11.2% of the enter-
DIFFERENCES prises with a male director were operating normally during the strict lock-
down, while 14.4% of the enterprises with a female director were operating
normally. This may be due to the characteristics of the sector in which enter-
prises with male and female directors operate, and the fact that enterprises
with female directors are dominant in the use of technology.
30.1% of enterprises with male directors stopped their operations, while

25.9% of enterprises with female directors decided to stop their operations.
In the first 9 months of 2021, 86.0% of companies were negatively affected

by the Covid-19 pandemic, while 7.2% were positively affected.
For enterprises with male directors, the percentage of negative effects of

the pandemic is higher than for enterprises with female directors.
Total

118
before the census: How did your enterprise operate during the strict lockdown?
12.5% 11.2% 14.4% 14.2% 14.3% 12.8% 12.8% 12.8% 11.3% 11.1%
5 034
2 702
2 332
1 855
1 908
5 158
3 084
2 074
1 478
1 487
OPERATED NORMALLY OPERATED REMOTELY
46.3% 45.9% 47.0% 47.9% 47.9%
28.4% 30.1% 25.9% 26.6% 26.7%

18 664
11 051
11 450
7 613
6 247
6 389
7 255
4 195
3 468
3 566
OPERATED IN A LIMITED SCOPE COMPLETELY STOPPED
before the census: How did the Covid-19 pandemic affected your enterprise operation in the first 9 months
of 2020?
86.0% 86.8% 84.8% 84.7% 84.6%
7.2% 6.7% 7.9% 8.2% 8.3%

6.8% 6.5% 7.2% 7.1% 7.1%
34 663
20 907
13 756
11 046
11 297
2 901
1 615
1 286
1 071
1 103
2 742
1 570
1 172
931
950
POSITIVE NEGATIVE NO EFFECT

The difficulties and problems related to the strict lockdown occurred to the enterprises that operated continuously
for 2 consecutive years before the census were studied, 37.4% had difficulty in keeping the jobs, 19.8% had difficulty
in understanding and incoherence of the decisions implemented by the government, 17.3% had difficulty in paying
the salaries of the employees.
before the census: What was the difficulties and problems to your enterprise during strict lockdown?
Total

37.4% 37.4% 37.4% 37.4% 37.7%
19.8% 19.8% 19.8% 19.2% 19.5%
17.3% 17.8% 16.7% 16.3% 16.2%

16 683
10 018
8 821
7 732
6 665
5 374
5 547
5 297
3 524
2 763
2 873
4 756
2 976
2 339
2 389
KEEPING THE JOB AMBIGUITY AND PAYING SALARIES OF

INCOHERENCE OF EMPLOYEES
DECISIONS MADE BY
THE GOVERNMENT
120
Figure 83. /continuation/ Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated continuously for
2 consecutive years before the census: What was the difficulties and problems to your enterprise during
strict lockdown?
6.7% 7.1% 6.2% 6.7% 6.3% 5.8% 5.5% 6.1% 6.4% 6.1% 3.7% 3.4% 4.0% 4.1% 4.1%
3 003
1 897
1 106
2 576
1 482
1 094
1 628
958
934
921
903
911
717
588
606
AVAILABILITY OF RAW LOAN REPAYMENT RENT
MATERIALS
3.0% 3.0% 3.1% 3.1% 3.2% 2.6% 2.2% 3.2% 3.5% 3.5% 1.5% 1.6% 1.4% 1.4% 1.3%
1 360
1 158
799
561
448
464
590
568
500
511
679
436
243
203
192
VEHICLE RESTRICTIONS RESTRICTIONS ON THE PROCESS OF
OPERATION HOURS FOR OBTAINING AN
STORES AND SERVICES OPERATIONAL PERMIT
1.1% 1.2% 1.1% 1.0% 1.0% 0.9% 0.8% 1.1% 0.9% 0.9% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1% 0.1%
511
322
189
148
149
416
227
189
124
135
32
21
11
13
11
NON-FULFILLMENT OF PROTECTIVE CLOTHING OTHERS

CONTRACTUAL AND EQUIPMENT OF
OBLIGATIONS OF THE INFECTION
FOREIGN PARTNER,
TERMINATION OF THE
CONTRACT
Problems related to the availability of raw materials occurred to 6.7% of enterprises, while problems related to loan
repayment occurred to 5.8% of enterprises. When looking at the difference between the gender of the director, it is
generally the same, and the difficulties related to the payment of wages and the availability of raw materials were
slightly more encountered by male directors, while the difficulties related to loan repayment and rent payment were
more encountered by female directors.

6.3
The business expectations for 2022 of enterprises that have been operating
continuously for 2 consecutive years before the census were studied, 45.0%
have positive expectations and 10.2% have negative expectations.
When distinguishing the expectations of the director by gender, 44.7% of

BUSINESS enterprises with male directors have positive expectations, while 45.5% of
enterprises with female directors have positive expectations.
PROSPECTS,
ATTITUDES
Figure 84. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated
AND GENDER continuously for 2 consecutive years before the census: What is the
DIFFERENCES business expectation of your enterprise for the coming year?
44.8% 44.6% 45.2% 44.9% 45.3%

19 980
11 922
8 058
6 462
6 659
NORMAL
45.0% 44.7% 45.5% 45.5% 45.3%

20 066
11 954
8 112
6 548
6 661
POSITIVE
10.2% 10.8% 9.4% 9.5% 9.5%

4 553
2 880
1 673
1 369
1 394
Total

NEGATIVE

122
Enterprises that have been operating continuously for 2 consecutive years before the census identified the issues
that should be paid attention to in the business sector as reducing corruption and bureaucracy, loan interest, and the
rate of social insurance premium. Enterprises with male directors emphasized the issue of corruption and bureau-
cracy more, while enterprises with female directors emphasized about the high rate of social insurance premium.
Figure 85. Enterprises managed by Mongolian citizen, which operated continuously for 2 consecutive
years before the census: What priority actions should be taken at the level of government policy for the
development of enterprises?
29.8% 30.8% 28.4% 28.5% 28.9%
23.9% 24.0% 23.9% 24.9% 24.8%
14.6% 13.6% 16.2% 15.4% 15.4%

13 310
10 679
6 519
3 636
2 883
8 249
5 061
4 099
4 247
6 410
4 269
3 582
3 643
2 218
2 270
REDUCE CORRUPTION REDUCE INTEREST REDUCING THE RATE
AND BUREAUCRACY RATES ON LOANS FROM OF SOCIAL INSURANCE
BANKS AND FINANCIAL PREMIUM
INSTITUTIONS
8.2% 8.3% 8.1% 7.9% 7.8%

6.8% 6.7% 6.9% 7.2% 7.3% 5.8% 6.0% 5.5% 5.1% 5.1%
3 673
2 234
1 439
1 143
1 143
3 032
1 798
1 234
1 042
1 068
2 592
1 606
986
737
745
OTHERS REDUCE THE OFFICIAL IMPROVE

PERMIT FEE INFRASTRUCTURE
5.3% 5.5% 5.0% 4.9% 4.9% 2.7% 2.3% 3.2% 3.1% 3.1%
2.8% 2.8% 2.9% 2.8% 2.9%
2 357
1 467
1 252
1 185
890
737
515
619
566
707
718
406
420
445
460
CREATE A FAVORABLE REDUCE THE NUMBER REDUCE THE NUMBER OF

TAX ENVIRONMENT OF PERMITS/LICENSES GOVERNMENT INSPEC-
TIONS

CONCLUSION
Mongolia does not have an official gender-disaggregated definition of business

owners and a consolidated business gender-disaggregated database, but the 2021
Enterprise Census provided an opportunity to assess gender differences in entre-
preneurship for the first time by disaggregating data by gender of business direc-
tors.
Although both men and women make a certain contribution in the business sector,
there is a difference in terms of participation, when the enterprises classified by
gender of director.
Many factors can influence the subsequent business success of men and women,
entrepreneurial decision-making and opportunities. These include the educational
level of men and women, participation in the labor market, family and social re-
sponsibilities, established roles, social and cultural stereotypes, and government
policies.
The main differences in the participation of men and women in the business sector
are manifested in the participation in the labor market, the motivation and reasons
for starting a business, the different choices of the sector and the indicators of
business performance and results. It can be considered that men and women have
different opportunities to participate in the labor market, to start a successful busi-
ness, and to benefit from development.
1. GENDER DIFFERENCES IN BUSINESS ACTIVITY
In Mongolia, the gender ratio of the population is relatively balanced, but women
are disadvantaged in terms of participation in the labor market and entrepreneurial
activity. The labor force participation rate of women is 15 percentage points lower
than that of men, and the percentage of female directors of operating enterprises
is 21 percentage points lower than that of male directors.
Differences in the reproductive characteristics of men and women and socially de-
fined work and roles affect not only their choice to start a business, but also their
success in running a business.
According to the results of the Time use survey9 of the population, women spend
1-8 times more time than men on unpaid work such as housework and child care.
Women have a higher level of education than men and spend more time in educa-
tion, but when they enter the labor market, the ability to spend the same amount of
9
Time use survey, NSO, 2019
124
time as men in employment is limited. This restricts women's ability to advance and
develop a solid career, and gain sufficient experience in business.
Entrepreneurial activity begins with participation in the labor market. Women have
different opportunities to choose whether or not to participate in the labor market
than men, and not participating in the labor market may be a decision based on
need or obligation to family and society rather than choice. In addition to unpaid
work, it is common for women to engage in informal work and self-employment to
earn income.
Most female-owned and operated businesses are micro or small businesses due
to the differences of the time available to men and women to run a business or be-
cause women carry the majority of unpaid labor, such as childcare and household
chores.
2. THE FACE OF BUSINESS LEADERSHIP IS DEFINED BY MALE GENDER
In addition to the low participation of women in the labor market and the business
sector, the success of female-owned businesses lags behind that of men. As power
increases in business, male participation dominates.
An enterprise with a male director generated average sales revenue of 2.0 billion
MNT, while an enterprise with a female director generated 2 times less average
sales revenue of 1.0 billion MNT. For large enterprises with a sales income of more
than 2.5 billion MNT, the gender gap deepens, with 71.6% of enterprises with male
directors, while 28.4% of enterprises with female directors.
An enterprise with a male director has an average of 12 employees, while an enter-

prise with a female director has an average of 8 employees.
In terms of the duration of operating time, enterprises with male and female direc-
tors are generally similar, and women are slightly more persistent, but enterprises
with male directors earn twice as much and employ 4 more employees on average.
In addition, in terms of business sectors, men dominate in the leading sectors of

the economy that can generate higher profits. These results reinforce the stereo-
type that men are more likely to succeed and earn more money than women in
business.

3. EVERY ENTREPRENEUR, MEN OR FEMALE, FACE FINANCING PROBLEMS,
BUT NEED DIFFERENT SOLUTIONS.
In 2020, 37.0% of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens have loans and

63.0% have no loans. The debt financing approach is generally balanced by director
gender. Also, in general, the same difficulties are encountered when studying the
reasons for failure to access financing or loans. However, it is worth noting that
according to the data on SME loans of the Bank of Mongolia, the amount of loans
received by women is lower than that of men.
Businesses run by women are less profitable than men's, and even if they have been
operating for the same period of time, they have not grown to the same extent. Re-
search on asset ownership shows that women own less assets, making it difficult
for them to access the desired amount of loan and obtain to meet loan collateral re-
quirements, which is the necessary financing to expand their business sufficiently.
Also, women make up 53.3% of the self-employed, but the opportunity to formalize
and expand their business is weak compared to men.
The issue of financing is the most important to support the business sector, and
the level of credit participation of enterprises with male and female directors is
generally the same, and the problems they face are similar, but the loan amount
and term are different, which indicates need for more differentiated and effective
policy in developing financial products.
4. GENDER RELATED SALARY INEQUALITY IN CERTAIN BUSINESS SEC-

TORS IS MOST LOST.
In addition to the difference in the participation of men and women among entre-
preneurs, the gender balance of the workforce in the business sector is lost.
Overall, the ratio of male and female workers is 58.5% and 41.5%, respectively.
However, if you look at the gender of the directors and segregate by sector, the
gender gap of employees is increasing even more. In enterprises with male direc-
tors, the gender imbalance of employees is higher than in enterprises with female
directors.
The choice of industry for workers is already gender-inequitable, with separate sec-
tors for men and women. More than 70% of workers in key economic sectors such
as mining, transportation, warehousing, construction, and agriculture are male,
while more than 70% of workers in health and education are female.
Gender differences and stereotypes persist in career and sector choices, men pre-
dominate in high-value-added sectors, also they work in sectors with high occupa-
tional safety risks.
The gender difference in the business sector is a factor that directly affects male
126
and female entrepreneurship. An imbalanced gender ratio in the workforce not only
creates gender inequality in the workplace, but can also affect gender balance in
social, economic, and political life.
Furthermore, there is a gender gap in the average salary level. In 2020, the average
salary of male employees of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens is 49.0%
higher than that of women. Although differences in wage levels are related to in-
dustry and professional characteristics, it is an important issue affecting women's
income and economic independence, so it is necessary to pay attention to gender
wage inequality.

RECOMMENDATION
In 2011, Mongolia adopted the Law on Ensuring Gender Equality, carefully consid-
ered the provision of gender equality and clearly reflected it in policies and pro-
grams. However, specifically considering the business sector, there is still a need
and demand for a thorough assessment of the gender gap and the implementation
of gender-sensitive and targeted policies.
Increasing the participation of women in the business environment will not only
benefit women, but also increase the employment of the population, increase fam-
ily income, and bring economic and social benefits to the transition from unpaid
work that women usually do to paid work. Development of the business sector is
an opportunity to increase the country's competitiveness and ensure the livelihood
of citizens.
1. SUPPORTING ENTREPRENEURSHIP BY INCREASING WOMEN'S PARTICI-

PATION IN THE LABOR MARKET
In order to increase the employment of the population and to allow women partic-
ipate more in the labor market, it is effective to make economically valuable policy
changes to facilitate and replace the social roles assigned to women. In addition
to supporting population growth, policies are needed to improve services related to
child care and to increase opportunities for women to actively participate in social
life while fulfilling their reproductive responsibilities.
On the other hand, it should be noted that the participation of women among en-
trepreneurs operating in the form of enterprises is low; on the contrary the par-
ticipation of women among informal and self-employed workers is high. It starts
with identifying the specific challenges women face in formalizing and scaling
their businesses. In addition to unpaid work, women are often forced to engage in
self-employment due to the demands of life. In order to increase women's partici-
pation in employment, entrepreneurship, and even decision-making, women need-
ed to be empowered to make choices.
Increasing the number of jobs with flexible conditions for women who are respon-
sible for caring for children and family members can help prevent women from
not participating in the labor market and losing opportunities to gain stable career
experience.
Gender equality in the business sector cannot be achieved without increasing

women's participation in the labor market.
128
2. WOMEN EMPOWERMENT IN GROWING AND SCALING A BUSINESS
In addition to increasing the participation of women in the business sector, there is

need to focus on empowering the businesses. Since women are mostly engaged in
micro-businesses and self-employment, effective policies should be implemented
to convert the businesses into officially registered enterprises and to expand the
businesses from micro and small enterprises.
Majority if women working in the informal sector are not registered, therefore ac-
cess to any project, program or government support is limited for them. By officially
registering those women and providing with information, the number of registered
women entrepreneurs would increase and it opens up opportunities to participate in
potential projects and programs.
Major commercial banks are increasing subsidized loan sources to support women
entrepreneurs, but the mechanism for providing this financial opportunity to women
entrepreneurs and spreading knowledge and information about it needs to be im-
proved.
In order to fully unlock the potential of women micro-entrepreneurs, it is important

to strengthen the support for micro-entrepreneurs by implementing policies that
take into account the uneven circumstances of men and women.
3. COMPILATION OF MORE DETAILED DATA CLASSIFIED BY BUSINESS SEC-

TOR AND GENDER
Gender equality is the concept of understanding the different needs of men and
women, thus by assessing the different needs and situations, appropriate policy
solutions can be supported to the extent that they can be equalizing the opportu-
nities.
There is still a need for more detailed gender-disaggregated data in the business
sector. In particular, although organizations related to the business sector, such as
the Bank of Mongolia, NSO, MTA, the Financial Regulatory Commission, the Small
and Medium Enterprises Development Fund and commercial banks, have been cre-
ating gender-disaggregated business data, due to differences in methodology and
definitions, it is difficult to use it as consolidated gender-disaggregated database.
The main reason is that there is no gender-specific definition of an entrepreneur,
and each organization has used its own definition. Therefore, in order to create in-
tegrated and accurate information on entrepreneurship by gender, it is necessary to
create a clear and precise definition of men and women, as well as micro, small and
medium entrepreneurs.
In addition, there is a lack of detailed research and data on business expansion and
career growth rates by gender, as well as appropriate policies in the business sector.

4. IMPLEMENTING GENDER SENSITIVE POLICY
Gender equality is not about the participation of men and women in equal numbers,
but about balancing the contributions and benefits of men and women by provid-
ing equal opportunities to make choices and implementing necessary policies that
considered the different needs.
Recognizing different needs is the first step, thus understanding and implementing
policies that target different needs is the key focus.
Gender specific differences exist in the business sector as well, so it is impera-

tive to define targeted policies that considered it. Section 7.1 of Article 7 of the
Law on Ensuring Gender Equality of Mongolia states that "Within the framework
of the state policy specified in Section 5.2 of this law, special measures aimed to
eliminating inequality in social and family relations between men and women and
protecting reproductive health will be implemented, these special measures shall
not be considered discrimination”.
5. CORRECTING GENDER STEREOTYPES IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR
There is a need to correct and enlighten the wrong gender stereotypes in which
the face of leadership in business is defined by the male gender. It is believed that
cultural elements are one of the major problems that hinder the creation of gender
equality in Mongolia. The victims of cultural elements are often women. The fact
that women lag behind men in owning property, owning a business, starting a busi-
ness, and expanding a business can be seen as a manifestation of the influence of
cultural elements. Therefore, it is necessary to study in detail the interrelationship
between entrepreneurship and cultural elements, to correct and eliminate stereo-
types.
Socially assigned gender responsibilities and roles differentiate the opportunities

to men and women, thereby closing opportunities for equal participation.
130

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ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND

Report written by:

NATIONAL STATISTICS OFFICE

The regional webinar was successfully organized to exchange experience in forming

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 3

1 CONCEPTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 21

2 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 29

3 BUSINESS ECONOMIC CAPACITY AND GENDER 55

4 SKILLS IN BUSINESS AND GENDER 77

5 TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, R&D AND GENDER 93

6 BUSINESS PROSPECTS, ATTITUDES AND GENDER 113

1.1 Gender and gender policy 22

2.1 Basic indicators of entrepreneurship 30

3.1 Business income generation and gender differences 56

4.1 Gender differences in the workplace 78

5.1 Technology use and gender differences 94

6.1 Entrepreneurship challenges and gender differences 114

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 5

1. CONCEPTS OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER

2. ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER

3. BUSINESS ECONOMIC CAPACITY AND GENDER

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 7

5. TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, R&D AND GENDER

6. BUSINESS PROSPECTS, ATTITUDES AND GENDER

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 9

EBRD European Bank for Reconstruction and Development

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 11

In order to measure entrepreneurship in a gender-disparate manner, it is

There is currently no legal definition of ‘entrepreneurship by gender’ in Mon-

One of the main sources of the most comprehensive collection of busi-

In this research, the gender-disaggregated data of the 2021 Enterprise Cen-

1. Entrepreneurship and gender

If the definition of entrepreneurship by gender is created in the legal envi-

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 13

ABOUT THE ENTERPRISE CENSUS

SCOPE OF THE RESEARCH

Figure 1. Scope of the research

180 006 53 927

147 399 4 158 4 597 23 852

ENTERPRISE ENTERPRISE Government Non-Government

COMPANY PARTNERSHIP COOPERATIVE STATE OWNED ENTERPRISE,

Figure 2. Classification by gender

MANAGED BY 33.4% or more owned by

MEASURING THE GENDER DIFFERENCE IN THE BUSINESS SECTOR

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 15

KEY BUSINESS INDICATORS

Looking at the enterprises operating in 2020 by sector, the majority or 73.2%

The majority of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens operating in 2020,

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER

Of the 147.4 thousand enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens included

Furthermore, 60.4% of operating enterprises have male directors and 39.6%

In addition to gender of directors, the data is specified by gender of owner, the

BUSINESS ECONOMIC CAPACITY AND GENDER

Looking at the difference in the representation of men and women by gender at

In 2020, 37.0% of enterprises managed by Mongolian citizens have loans and

SKILLS IN BUSINESS AND GENDER

The tendency of male domination in management and ownership of business

ENTREPRENEURSHIP AND GENDER 2023 17

TECHNOLOGY, INNOVATION, R&D AND GENDER