This report provides an overview of the livelihoods and welfare of households across Myanmar for the ninth round of the Myanmar Household Welfare Survey (MHWS), conducted between July and October 2025. The analysis focuses on income and livelihoods, and income poverty.
Key Findings - Download the Report
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Household welfare conditions remain highly fragile, with rural households relying mainly on farming and farm wages, while urban households depend more on non-farm businesses and salaried employment.
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Production and market challenges persisted, with crop farmers increasingly citing low selling prices as their main constraint, livestock producers facing high input costs, and non-farm businesses reporting weak demand.
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Urban incomes rebounded, with real income increasing by 26 percent between late 2024 and mid-2025 as nominal income gains were not offset by inflation, though urban incomes remained well below pre-crisis levels.
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Rural income growth remained limited, with real incomes rising only 3 percent as falling crop prices offset gains in agricultural wages; rural incomes remained more than 30 percent below 2022 levels.
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Income poverty declined slightly, driven entirely by urban areas where poverty fell by 6 percentage points, while rural poverty remained unchanged and continued to be highest among asset-poor, farming, and conflict-affected households.