ULAN BATOR, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) -- The number of livestock animals in Mongolia reached 66.46 million, a record high since the nomadic country began a livestock animal census in 1918, a senior expert of the National Statistics Office said Thursday.

A census conducted between Dec. 7-17 showed the number of livestock animals in 2018 increased by 244,700, or 0.4 percent, from the previous year, Erdene-Ochir Myagmarkhand announced at a press conference.

According to the preliminary result of the nationwide census, sheep accounted for 46.0 percent of all livestock, goats accounted for 40.8 percent, cattle accounted for 6.6 percent, horses accounted for 5.9 percent and camels accounted for 0.7 percent.

Among the country's 21 provinces, the northernmost Khuvsgul has the largest number of livestock with 5.7 million, followed by Uvurkhangai and Arkhangai in the central provinces, with about 5.5 million respectively.

There are 230,800 herder households with livestock animals, up 0.8 percent from last year.

The promotion of animal husbandry is seen as the most reachable solution to diversify the landlocked country's mining-dependent economy. Currently, mineral products account for over 90 percent of its total exports.