Myanmar Spring Chronicle – Scenes from October 24
(MoeMaKa), October 25, 2026
Poverty in Myanmar Is No Longer Merely an Economic Problem
In Myanmar, poverty has reached a point where it can no longer be measured only by low income, scarce employment, or high prices. More important than asking how much income an individual or family earns are questions such as: Can they access healthcare? Can they send their children to school? Do they have a safe home? Can they still hope for employment and income tomorrow?
A report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on October 8, titled Layers of Deprivation: Multidimensional Poverty in Myanmar, stated that 68 percent of Myanmar’s population—more than 37 million people—are experiencing multidimensional poverty or are at risk of falling into it.
Of that number, 17.9 million people, or 32.6 percent of the population, are currently experiencing multidimensional poverty. Another 19.5 million people are vulnerable to falling into poverty. In other words, nearly two out of every three people in Myanmar are either experiencing poverty or are in danger of falling into it at any time.
These figures do not merely show the decline of a country’s economy. They also reveal how severely the basic ability of an entire society to sustain itself has weakened.
The UNDP report does not look only at income. It also measures simultaneous deprivation in health, education and living standards. For example, a family may still have someone with a job, but that income may only cover basic food and living expenses. If someone becomes ill, the family may be unable to afford medical treatment, continue supporting their children’s education, or access basic services such as clean drinking water and electricity.
These forms of deprivation do not occur separately. They are connected to one another. Poor health may prevent someone from working. Losing a job may force parents to take their children out of school. Children who lose access to education may later be unable to find suitable employment. In this way, a cycle of poverty develops.
According to the UNDP’s findings, deprivation related to health and living standards accounts for more than 80 percent of the factors contributing to multidimensional poverty.
When discussing poverty in Myanmar, it is impossible to leave out the armed conflicts that have emerged since the 2021 military coup. War directly affects people’s livelihoods by destroying homes, forcing people to abandon farmland, disrupting transportation routes and damaging markets.
However, war-related poverty is not limited to areas where fighting is taking place. Even in major cities without active conflict, people are facing high prices, power cuts, limited employment opportunities, and declining-quality healthcare and education services.
The UNDP report identifies Rakhine State as one of the areas suffering most severely from multidimensional poverty, with more than two-thirds of its population affected. At the same time, although Yangon, the country’s commercial capital, has a lower poverty rate than other areas, it still has a large number of people living in poverty.
This shows that poverty has become a nationwide problem affecting both rural and urban communities.
The middle class, which previously enjoyed a degree of economic security, is also being affected. Even for people who still have jobs, salaries may no longer be enough to cover their families’ living expenses. They are forced to use their savings. Once those savings are exhausted, they may have to sell their possessions. If another emergency occurs, they may have no resources left with which to recover.
The loss of hope for the future among young people is an especially serious danger to Myanmar’s long-term development. According to UNDP estimates, at least one million young people may have left Myanmar since 2021.
This is not simply a matter of population movement. It also represents the loss of the country’s future workforce, knowledge, skills and creative potential.
Another reason poverty in Myanmar can no longer be described as merely an economic problem is its connection to political power. When people must devote most of their time and energy simply to meeting their daily needs, they have fewer opportunities to participate in social, political and public affairs.
In a society where basic living conditions are insecure, people are increasingly forced to focus on how to survive rather than how to demand their rights. Those who control employment, food and basic services may also exploit this situation to gain political influence over the population.
However, Myanmar’s poverty should not be simplistically attributed to the military coup alone. Even before the coup, there were disparities between rural and urban development, inadequate infrastructure and public services in ethnic areas, and weak government investment in education and healthcare.
The political crisis and armed conflicts after 2021 have further worsened these pre-existing weaknesses.
Therefore, solving the poverty problem requires more than ending the war and restoring the economy. It also requires consideration of the distribution of political power, local governance, accountability in public services, and the fair allocation and use of resources.
Even if the wars currently taking place in Myanmar were to end one day, the poverty problem would not automatically disappear. Destroyed roads and bridges can be rebuilt, but it will be much more difficult to make up for the years of education lost by children.
Factories and businesses may reopen, but rebuilding the security and trust necessary for skilled workers and educated young people who have left the country to return will take time.
The World Bank’s October 2026 Myanmar Economic Monitor also stated that the country’s ability to recover remains limited because of armed conflict, inadequate electricity and declining household incomes.
Although economic growth is projected to be around 2 percent in fiscal year 2026–27, that growth does not necessarily mean that the living conditions of the majority of the population have improved.
One point emphasized in the UNDP report is that social recovery should not be postponed until the war has ended. Even while fighting continues, it is necessary to prevent children’s education, basic healthcare, food security and livelihoods from collapsing.
These responsibilities cannot be regarded as the responsibility of a future government alone. Existing local administrative bodies, ethnic organizations, civil-society groups, education and healthcare networks, and Myanmar communities abroad all have roles to play.
When people discuss building democracy and federalism in Myanmar, they often focus mainly on the distribution of power, the constitution and the role of political institutions.
But among the factors that will determine whether democracy and federalism succeed are also questions such as: How much safer has the daily life of an ordinary person become? How accessible are basic services? How much hope can parents have for their children’s future?
In conclusion, the poverty Myanmar is currently experiencing is no longer merely a problem of people becoming financially poor. It is a problem in which people are gradually losing their ability to obtain an education, live in good health, make free choices about their own lives, and hope for the future.
When thinking about Myanmar’s future, we must answer not only the question of how to end the war, but also how to rebuild the lives of the majority of the population—both during the conflict and after it ends.
The future of a country is not determined solely by military victories and political agreements. It will also be determined by how fully the lives of ordinary people living in that country are able to recover.