BANGKOK — More than two in three people living in Myanmar are either in poverty or at risk of falling into it, as armed conflict, limited access to basic services and economic instability deepen deprivation across the country, a United Nations report published on Thursday said.
Almost 18 million people, or 32.6% of the population, are poor, while another 19.5 million are vulnerable to poverty, according to the U.N. Development Program (UNDP). That brings the total number of people in or at risk of poverty to over 37 million people, or 68% of the population.
Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military seized power from the elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi in 2021, triggering widespread opposition. After security forces suppressed peaceful protests with lethal force, many opponents of military rule took up arms, plunging large parts of the country into conflict.
Kanni Wignaraja, U.N. assistant secretary-general and UNDP regional director for Asia and the Pacific, said: “We are seeing a depth of poverty in Myanmar that is eroding human development itself. This is a no-win war. Everyone is losing. The core muscle of the country is being systematically eroded.”
The UNDP report was based on a nationwide telephone survey of 7,463 households. It used an adapted Multidimensional Poverty Index that captures deprivation beyond income, including overlapping gaps in health, education and living standards.
Deficits in health and living standards account for more than 80% of measured poverty, the report said, reflecting difficulties accessing health care, adequate housing, clean water, sanitation and other essential services, particularly in conflict zones.
Poverty is especially widespread and severe in states facing heightened insecurity and restricted access, particularly Rakhine in the west and Kayah in the east, it said.
Low levels of education, insecure employment and low incomes compound pressures from conflict, displacement, disrupted markets and fragmented services, driving deprivation across Myanmar, the report found.
Repeated economic and natural hazard shocks further deepen poverty, with El Niño expected to intensify those pressures. The naturally occurring climatic pattern can disrupt rainfall and raise global temperatures.
The UNDP also warned of a growing loss of human capital, saying at least 1 million young people may have left Myanmar since 2021 due to a lack of opportunities and growing uncertainty that limits the future prospects for education, jobs and mobility.
Min Aung Hlaing, the leader of the military-backed government, told a Cabinet meeting this week that instability and a lack of peace had slowed the country’s economic growth. He attributed the slowdown to political instability, sanctions, a lack of financial assistance, limited access to international markets, declining trade and increased worker migration, according to state media reports Monday.
