Residents of Myanmar, once lauded for its promising economy in Southeast Asia, are now grappling with a significant rise in poverty, driven by the country’s civil war, which has pushed tens of millions of people into impoverishment, according to a UN report.
In 2021, amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, Myanmar experienced a military coup that ousted the government of Aung San Suu Kyi, plunging the country into poverty and violence. Three years post-coup, the country’s GDP has yet to rebound from the 18% decline it endured.
In 2016, the country boasted the fastest-growing economy in the region, achieving a remarkable feat by halving the poverty rate from 48.2% in 2005 to 24.8% in 2017.
Almost half of Myanmar’s population (totaling 27 million) lives below the poverty line, with 49.7% surviving on less than €0.76 per day. The middle class is at risk of being eradicated, and families are compelled to cut back on essential needs like food and healthcare due to rampant inflation.
In conflict zones between the junta and resistance forces, individuals are further pushed into poverty, with women and children disproportionately affected, according to the report. Since the coup, resistance forces have been engaged in combat with military forces to remove the junta from power, resulting in attacks that have displaced nearly 3 million people.
The UN report is grounded in over 12,000 interviews conducted between June and October 2023, one of the most extensive surveys conducted in the country in recent years.
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