Cases / Insurance, liability and compensation funds · Mongolia · 2024
Mongolia index livestock insurance
Nature's voice · report
No measurement of the harm done to me here is on record.
Did nature suffer? Not measured.
What the record lacks: 1 none on record · 5 insufficient · 1 not measured · 2 disputed · 1 unclear See the gaps
Mongolia's index-based livestock insurance programme splits herd losses between herders, private insurers and the government. In the 2023–24 winter, 8.1 million animals were reported to have died; the research found no payout figure.
7–20%Herders buying cover in a given year
According to a World Bank presentation. The research found no insurance payout figure for the 2023–24 winter, in which 8.1 million animals were reported to have died.
According to a World Bank presentation. The research found no insurance payout figure for the 2023–24 winter, in which 8.1 million animals were reported to have died.
Status As of the latest sources reviewed (October 2026): no insurance payout figure was found for the 2023–24 dzud winter, in which 7.2 to 8.1 million animals were reported dead.
What?
An index-based livestock insurance programme in Mongolia in which herders retain first losses, private insurers pay a middle layer and the government covers catastrophic losses. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
Where?
Mongolia.
When?
Ten cycles of the programme are covered by the presentation's cumulative figures; the 2023–24 winter is the latest loss event recorded. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
Who?
Gained
- Participating insurers (not named in the sources reviewed) — Their losses are capped at 105% of premiums by the government's catastrophic layer. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
Lost
- Herders — Retain mortality up to about 10%; only 7–20% buy cover in a given year. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
Harmed
- Herders and their herds — 7.2 million (FAO GIEWS) to 8.1 million (research) animals died in the 2023–24 dzud; the insurance payout was not found. FAO GIEWS (via ReliefWeb)
Why?
The programme is designed to protect herders from catastrophic livestock losses. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
How?
A livestock-mortality index triggers payments across three layers: herder retention, insurer payments, and a government catastrophic layer. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
6 of 6 questions answered from the record
What happened
The record, in order.
Mongolia's index-based livestock insurance programme is described in a World Bank presentation as having three layers. Herders retain animal mortality up to about 10%. Insurers pay above that level. The government covers catastrophic losses, above about 25–30%. The government's catastrophic layer caps insurers' losses at 105% of premiums. Only 7–20% of herders buy cover in a given year, according to the same presentation.
The presentation gives cumulative figures over ten cycles: "93,700 herders… paying US$405 m. in premiums… 16,545 herders received payout of US$160 m." The research judged the dollar figures likely to be a unit error, because the same presentation gives the 2023 annual premium as MNT 4.9 billion, about US$1.4 million. These cumulative figures are therefore reported but not independently verified.
In the 2023–24 winter, a dzud (extreme winter) killed 8.1 million animals, 12.5% of the herd, according to the research. FAO's Global Information and Early Warning System (GIEWS), in its update of 6 May 2024, put animal deaths at 7.2 million. The research did not find the amount that the insurance programme paid out for that winter.
- 2023Annual premium of MNT 4.9 billion, about US$1.4 million (World Bank presentation)
- 2024FAO GIEWS update (6 May) reports 7.2 million animals dead in the 2023–24 dzud; the research reports 8.1 million (12.5%) and finds no payout data
What was said
Claims, in the words of those who made them.
Where accounts differ
Each party's account, side by side, with its source. The record does not settle these points; it shows them.
How many animals died in Mongolia's 2023–24 dzud?
International bodies
FAO GIEWS (update of 6 May 2024)
7.2 million animals died in the 2023–24 dzud winter.
FAO GIEWS (via ReliefWeb)Researchers
Research compiled for this case
8.1 million animals (12.5%) died in the 2023–24 dzud; the source of this figure not on record.
How it looked
What was shown, beside what was recorded.
Shown
- A three-layer design: herders retain losses up to about 10% mortality, insurers pay above that, and the government covers catastrophic losses above about 25–30%, with insurers' losses capped at 105% of premiums.World Bank presentation on the Mongolia index-based livestock insurance programme · World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
Recorded
- Only 7–20% of herders buy cover in a given year.
- The government's catastrophic layer caps insurers' losses at 105% of premiums.
- The 2023 annual premium was MNT 4.9 billion (about US$1.4 million, per the research's conversion).
- FAO GIEWS reported 7.2 million animals dead in the 2023–24 dzud winter (6 May 2024 update).
- The research reported 8.1 million animals (12.5%) dead in the 2023–24 dzud; the amount paid by the insurance was not found.
In court and with insurers
Every proceeding and every insurer decision on record.
Lawsuits and rulings
No court case on record. No court has ruled on this case.
Insurers
- 2024No policy foundPrivate insurers in the programme (not named in the sources reviewed) → Mongolian herders (7–20% buying cover in a given year)
Index-based livestock insurance in three layers: herders retain mortality up to about 10%, insurers pay above that, and the government covers catastrophic losses above about 25–30%, capping insurers' losses at 105% of premiums. The 2023 annual premium was MNT 4.9 billion. No payout figure was found for the 2023–24 dzud winter. World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum)
What nature saw
Outcomes measured on the ground, and nature's note.
Nature's report opens this page. Below: further outcomes measured on the ground.
Herders buying cover in a given year
7–20%
World Bank presentation
Animals dead in the 2023–24 dzud
7.2–8.1 million
FAO GIEWS (May 2024): 7.2 million; the research: 8.1 million, 12.5%
Insurance payout for 2023–24
Not found
No payout data located
What we don't know
Undisclosed, unproven, untried: recorded as data.
Nature
- Not measured Harm to nature: The record holds no measurement of harm to nature.
Insurers
- Unclear Private insurers in the programme (not named in the sources reviewed): no decision on record.
Figures
- Insufficient Herders insured cumulative: From the presentation's cumulative figures, reported but not independently verified.
- Insufficient Herders paid cumulative: From the presentation's cumulative figures, reported but not independently verified.
- Insufficient Premium cumulative: The presentation states US$405 million in premiums over ten cycles; the research judged this likely a unit error.
- Insufficient Payout cumulative: The presentation states US$160 million in payouts over ten cycles; the research judged this likely a unit error.
Accounts
- Disputed How many animals died in Mongolia's 2023–24 dzud?
Record
- None on record Insurance payout for the 2023–24 dzud: payout data was not found.
- Insufficient Reported but not independently verified: the presentation's cumulative figures of 93,700 herders paying US$405 million in premiums and 16,545 herders receiving US$160 million in payouts. The research judged the dollar figures likely a unit error, because the same presentation gives the 2023 annual premium as MNT 4.9 billion (about US$1.4 million); the currency of the cumulative premium is unconfirmed.
- Disputed Animals dead in the 2023–24 dzud: FAO GIEWS reported 7.2 million (May 2024); the research reported 8.1 million (12.5%). The sources conflict.
Did the harm stop?
The sources do not describe a point at which harm stopped; the programme and the 2023–24 losses are recorded separately.
Who paid?
In the programme design, herders retain mortality up to about 10% and the government covers losses above about 25–30%; the sources reviewed do not say who bore the 2023–24 losses beyond that.
Sources
Voices on record: — Company or project— Government and regulators— Courts— Press and investigations— Communities and civil society— Researchers✓ International bodies
International bodies
- Mongolia Index-Based Livestock Insurance Project (presentation deck)World Bank (hosted on the Financial Protection Forum) ·
- GIEWS Update: Mongolia, 6 May 2024 - extreme winter weather known as dzud driving acute food insecurity among pastoral householdsFAO GIEWS (via ReliefWeb) · 2024-05-06
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