“We didn’t want to leave our homeland, but we had no choice,” said Sai Oo, who recently arrived in Thailand from Shan State with his wife and four children. “If we had stayed, my family would have starved. The situation is getting worse and worse.”
Since 2021, the State Administration Council (SAC) has been determined to crush the resistance that threatens its hold on power. Beyond the toll measured in lives lost and people wounded, the war has also devastated Burma’s economy. This is especially ironic, given that most resistance fighters and civilians opposed to the SAC believe the generals are primarily driven by a desire to preserve their power and enrich themselves. Yet their actions have plunged the nation into even deeper poverty. With a GDP per capita of around $1,200 per year—or roughly $100 per month—Burma now ranks among the world’s poorest countries, with an average income nearly 50% lower than that of Haiti.
According to a recent UNDP report, Myanmar’s GDP shrank by 9% between 2020 and 2024, erasing a decade of economic progress. Inflation soared to 25.4% in 2024, while the trade deficit widened to 2.2% of GDP. Although trade briefly rebounded in 2022, it declined sharply in 2023 and continued to weaken in 2024. In the second half of FY2023/24 alone, border exports fell by 27% and imports by 50%. At the same time, the currency (The kyat) collapsed from 1,330 per U.S. dollar in 2021 to 4,520 in 2025, making imports unaffordable and driving shortages of basic goods. Poverty has surged, with 77% of households now classified as poor or near-poor—up from 58% in 2017.
In Mawchi, a mining town in Karenni State, entire families work under punishing conditions to extract tin and tungsten—much of it still done by hand. In the dim, dust-filled interior of the mine, shirtless young men push heavy carts deep into the earth along narrow rails. Armed with little more than headlamps and shovels, they navigate tunnels where the heat and humidity intensify the deeper they go. On the way out, the carts—now loaded with hundreds of kilograms of stone—must be pushed uphill, a task that leaves the boys visibly straining under the weight.
At the surface, women crouch on the ground, smashing rocks with hammers to separate valuable ore from waste. With no childcare available, many bring their babies and toddlers, who play barefoot among the stone piles as their mothers work.
The pay is as harsh as the labor itself—many work from dawn to dusk for as little as $6 a day. Yet they consider themselves fortunate; with formal employment all but vanished, even this grueling job is one of the few sources of employment.
While jobs are increasingly scarce across Myanmar, a surprising trend has emerged in urban centers like Yangon, where some companies report labor shortages. By April 2024, 28% of businesses said they had lost workers to migration—a reflection of a growing trend among Myanmar citizens fleeing not just economic collapse, but also spiraling inflation, hunger, war, and the threat of military conscription.
Migration has become a key survival strategy. According to a joint World Bank–ILO survey, migrant workers earn two to three times more in Thailand and Malaysia, and over ten times more in Japan and South Korea. Remittances now serve as the primary income source for 7.5% of households. However, much of this migration occurs through informal and dangerous routes due to conflict and recruitment pressures. Even once abroad, families remain vulnerable. The SAC and armed groups have begun taxing remittances, further squeezing the earnings of migrant workers.
Sai Nyunt, a 35-year-old Shan man from Senwi in northern Shan State, has worked in Thailand’s construction industry for seven years. “I lived in Chiang Mai for a year, then moved to Bangkok, where I now earn 30,000 baht a month,” he said. While he used to send half his salary home each month, that’s no longer possible. In August 2024, he sent 15,000 baht to his family—only to have 7,000 baht seized by an armed group. “It’s just not fair,” he said. “If a family refuses to comply, they aren’t allowed to stay in the group’s-controlled area.”
As Myanmar’s formal economy collapses, its illicit economy has rapidly expanded. The country is now the world’s largest producer of opium and heroin, a major methamphetamine manufacturer, and a hub for unregulated jade mining, illegal gambling, trafficking, and scam operations. Scam centers alone have fueled a regional crime wave, contributing to an estimated $39 billion in stolen funds. In response to its failure to address money laundering and terrorist financing, Myanmar was blacklisted by the Financial Action Task Force, further deepening its economic isolation.
Sai Seng Khur, a 35-year-old Shan man from Laikha Township, described how these dynamics are playing out in his hometown, where crime, drug production, and human trafficking have surged. He explained that the 758 Battalion of the Shan Border Guard Force (BGF) allowed a Chinese-run scam call center to set up operations in its territory—allegedly under the protection of both the BGF and the SAC. “Since the gang arrived, the price of goods has doubled,” he said. Many young people have abandoned farming jobs to work for the gang, drawn by the promise of high pay. The rest of the population suffer in fear. “People are afraid to travel even short distances now,” he said. “There are robberies and thefts everywhere—it’s just not safe anymore.”
Across Myanmar, more than 3.5 million people have been internally displaced, while the SAC continues to block international aid from reaching them. Hunger has reached catastrophic levels as agricultural output has dropped by 16% since 2021. This decline is driven by mass displacement, the loss of labor due to conscription or flight to countries like Thailand, and widespread fear of armed groups seizing crops, which discourages planting.
The result: over one-third of the population now needs humanitarian assistance. In some formerly food-rich regions, output is projected to meet only 20% of local needs this year. At the same time, conflict has disrupted imports and caused food and transport prices to soar. Rice prices rose 220% between January 2021 and June 2024—including a 62% increase in the first half of 2024 alone—while the cost of a typical diet has nearly tripled since 2020.
Mass displacement has also led to overcrowding in previously sparsely populated areas, straining water supplies. With electricity in short supply, many rely on wood for cooking, fueling rapid deforestation. This has triggered environmental imbalances, including flooding in lowlands and drought in higher elevations. The crisis is so severe that 42% of farming families fear they won’t have enough to eat.
Myanmar’s infrastructure has crumbled under the weight of war, economic collapse, and state mismanagement. Over half the population lacks access to electricity, with only 53% of households connected to the national power grid—and in rural areas, that figure drops to just 20%. Even where connections exist, power is frequently disrupted by fighting. The healthcare system has also collapsed, according to the UN’s 2025 humanitarian needs report. Hospitals and clinics struggle to operate amid bombings, a lack of paved roads, electricity, clean water, and soaring inflation. With no funds to buy medicines or equipment, it has become nearly impossible to provide even basic care.
Cuts to electricity are often accompanied by internet shutdowns, further impacting education. “Currently, many young people cannot go to school, and we don’t have internet,” said Seng Ja from Kachin State. “It’s been almost six months with no connection.” Nationwide, 45% of teenagers are out of school. Following the coup, Myanmar experienced 532 school closure days between February 2020 and February 2022—the highest in East Asia and the Pacific. The conflict has only worsened conditions: teachers dismissed, schools attacked, and trust in public institutions eroded. Violence and random airstrikes, often targeting civilian areas rather than enemy positions, have created an atmosphere of fear and instability.
This collapse of essential services has driven away investment. Foreign direct investment (FDI) plunged from over $5 billion in FY2019/20 to just $662 million in FY2023/24. Most new capital comes from existing firms unable to withdraw, while many foreign companies have exited due to sanctions, reputational risks, or deteriorating business conditions. The SAC has turned to allies like China and Russia, offering incentives to revive stalled infrastructure projects—but investor confidence remains low. Myanmar’s blacklisting by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has further restricted access to global financial systems.
In the end, the SAC has not only devastated the economy and driven civilians into poverty or exile—it has also left the country increasingly vulnerable to authoritarian influence from China and Russia, filling the vacuum left by the withdrawal of democratic powers and capital.
