Roughly half of Myanmar living under poverty line, UN says

Almost 50 percent of Myanmar’s citizens were living on approximately 76 U.S. cents per day by the end of last year, according to a UN report. Roughly 76 percent of the country lives near or below a subsistence existence. Myanmar has been ravaged by a civil war ever since the military took over the government in 2021. Rebel forces have been fighting with the military junta ever since.

How else has the civil war factored into the country’s poverty level? Myanmar’s middle class has largely disappeared, according to the UN. People in conflict areas tend to be poorer than those in areas where fighting is less intense, but poverty is spreading into previously affluent urban areas, as well.

What are people doing to manage this? Many of the 12,000 households surveyed said they are cutting the money they spend on non-food items, digging into their savings, borrowing money from relatives, or just eating less.

Dig deeper: Read Joyce Wu’s report in World Tour about young people in Myanmar trying to avoid military service.