Chart and table of population level and growth rate for the Yangon, Myanmar metro area from 1950 to 2025.

Interestingly, there were over 5.33 million people living in a city with a population between the five to ten million mark in Myanmar in 2020. Despite the Yangon region’s population increasing astronomically from the early 1990s onwards, there remained still over 9.39 million people living in cities with a population size of less than three hundred thousand people, corresponding with Myanmar’s predominantly rural population.

Increasing population Despite having the biggest land mass of the Southeast Asian countries, Myanmar has a much lower population compared to its neighboring countries. Nonetheless, Myanmar’s population has actually increased and is expected to increase further. Not only is the total population increasing, but in particular the adult population, while the child population has decreased throughout the past decade. (678087). A rise in adult population can be deduced as having a positive impact on the labor force, as more people are available to work. The number of people in the labor force has in fact increased, yet the labor force participation rate has steadily decreased throughout recent years.

Rural background As Myanmar relies heavily on its agricultural output to stimulate its economy, it is not surprising that the country consists of mostly a rural population. However, this has been decreasing slightly from 2009 onwards. Nevertheless, Myanmar’s rural population heavily outweighs its urban. Yet, with Myanmar’s economy an emerging one there are anticipations that the country will make the transition from an agricultural country to an industrial one. This is teamed with expectations that Myanmar could quadruple its economy by 2030 if the country were to invest in high-technological industries. With an increased focus on industry, there may well be a shift in Myanmar’s population, taking the country from a mostly rural to an urban population.

Historical dataset of population level and growth rate for the Yangon, Myanmar metro area from 1950 to 2025.

As of 2019, the Yangon region was the most populous region in Myanmar with a population of over eight million. Located in the south of the country, the region is home to the largest city, Yangon, which is also the former capital of Myanmar. Naypyidaw Union Territory, where the country's capital Naypyidaw is located, had around 1.27 million inhabitants in 2019. The total population of Myanmar amounts to over 53 million and is set to increase over the next years.

This report summarises provisional results of Myanmar’s 2014 population and housing census. (Main census results released in May 2015.) The provisional results provide the total population by sex and administrative unit, from national, state/region, district down to township level. It also shows the population sizes of Yangon, Mandalay and Nay Pyi Taw cities, as well as the state/region capitals. Other indicators included are sex ratio and population density.

Abstract

The MPLCS 2015 is a comprehensive study of how people in Myanmar live. It is a joint analysis conducted by a technical team from the Ministry of Planning and Finance, Government of Myanmar, and the Poverty and Equity Global Practice of the World Bank. It collects data on the occupations of people, how much income they earn, and how they use this to meet the food, housing, health, education, and other needs of their families.

The Myanmar Poverty and Living Conditions Survey has the following objectives: - Put forward trends in poverty between 2004/05, 2009/10 and 2015 - Present a measure of poverty that reflects the situation of poverty in Myanmar in 2015 at the national, urban/rural and agro-zone - Conduct analysis about the situation and nature of poverty in Myanmar that informs policy choices and strategies.

Geographic coverage

National coverage. The survey is a representative of the Union Territory, four agro-zones, and urban/rural areas.

Analysis unit

• Households
• Individuals
• Agricultural parcel and crops
• Consumption items

Universe

The survey covered only the usual household residents, excluding people living in hotels/motels/guesthouses, military camps, police camps, orphanages/homes for the aged, religious centers, boarding schools/colleges/universities, correctional facilities/prisons, hospitals, camps/hostels for workers, and homeless/other collective quarters.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

The MPLCS sample design was developed based on the sampling frame from the April 2014 Census pre-enumeration listing data. In addition to providing statistically representative estimates at the national level, the sample was designed so that representative estimates were derived for each of four agro-ecological zones (Hills and Mountains, Dry Zone, Coastal and Delta), for the urban/rural levels overall, and specifically Yangon and surrounding area. The data are not representative at the state or region level.

The sample primary sampling units (PSUs) for this sample are the enumeration areas (EAs) defined for the 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census. There are 304 EAs and 3648 sample households.

A stratified multi-stage sample design is used for the MLPCS 2015. The stratum are agro--ecological zone and rural/urban. The classification of the EAs in the 2014 Myanmar Census of Population and Housing frame by urban and rural stratum was based on the administrative structure of the hierarchical geographic areas in Myanmar; all EAs in administrative areas defined as wards are considered urban, and all EAs in village tracks are classified as rural. The distribution of the households in the 2014 Myanmar Census of Population and Housing frame by region, urban and rural stratum, based on the preliminary Census data.

Sampling deviation

A total of 14 sample EAs selected for the MPLCS could not be enumerated, mostly because of security problems.

Refer to MPLCS 2014/15 Survey Conduct and Quality Control Report.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The MPLCS questionnaire builds from earlier household expenditure and living conditions surveys conducted in Myanmar, in particular, the Integrated Household Living Conditions Assessment (IHCLA-I, 2005 and IHLCA-II, 2010) and the Household Income and Expenditure Survey (between 1989 and 2012) and WORLD BANK's LIVING STANDARD surveys. The MPLCS brings all these previous household surveys together into a single survey and provides one comprehensive source of living conditions information.

The MPLCS 2014/2015 household questionnaire consists of 13 modules. 1. Roster 2. Education and literacy 3a. Health status 3b. Health care 4. Labor and employment 5a. International migration (current household members) 5b. Remittances (former household members and others) 6. Housing 7. Household assets/durables 8a. Household consumption in the last 7 days 8b. Non-food consumption expenditure in the last 30 days 8c. Non-food consumption expenditure in 6 and 12 months 9. Non-farm enterprises 10a. Parcel roster 10b. Inputs 10c. Labor 10d. Harvest and crop disposition 10e. Livestock 10f. Agricultural machinery and equipment 10g. Aquaculture and fisheries 11a. Loans/credit 11b. Financial inclusion 12. Food security/subjective assessment of well-being 13. Shocks and coping strategies

Sampling error estimates

Tables with calculated sampling errors and confidence intervals for the most important survey estimates, the different sources of non-sampling error presented in MPLCS 2015 Survey Conduct and Quality Control Report section 5.

Data appraisal

For detail of data quality control and measurement, see in MPLCS 2015 Survey Conduct and Quality Control Report section 3.5.

Abstract

IHLCA-II is a nationwide quantitative survey of 18660 households with two rounds of data collection (December 2009/January 2010 and May 2010).

IHLCA surveys should support the system of economic statistics that is the basis for modern National Accounts by providing much needed data on value added in household (informal sector) production. IHLCA data will make it possible to estimate the GDP share of private consumption from the use side or alternatively in terms of household production's share of the GDP from the production side.

The main objectives of the survey have been formulated: - To obtain an accurate and holistic assessment of population well-being by measuring a number of indicators related to living conditions from an integrated perspective; - To provide reliable and updated data for identifying different levels of poverty in order to help better focus programmatic interventions and prioritize budget allocations; - To provide quantitative and qualitative data for better understanding the dimensions of wellbeing and poverty in Myanmar and the endogenous and exogenous factors behind the observed patterns and trends in living conditions; - To provide baseline information for monitoring progress towards the achievement of the Millennium Development Goals and other national and international targets; - To develop a rigorous and standardized methodology for establishing a framework for monitoring living conditions and conducting future time-trend analysis.

Given the breadth of information that was to be generated by the survey and the range of stakeholders involved in the project, there were also a number of secondary objectives including: - The compilation of updated statistics for a series of indicators that were also addressed in previous surveys in Myanmar for comparative time-trend analyses on specific aspects of living conditions where appropriate; - The compilation of precise statistics on the spatial distribution of poor and non-poor households for poverty mapping; - For economic and social analysis, improved data for monitoring differentials in living conditions by urban-rural residence, gender and other population sub-groups; - For policy and programmatic formulation, comprehensive data on the population’s perceptions of living conditions, in particular prioritization in terms of their preferences to improve wellbeing and reduce poverty across regions of the country.

The IHLCA-II results have been used to prepare three separate reports: - Poverty Profile - MDG Data Report - Poverty Dynamics Report

In addition two supplementing reports have been prepared: - Technical Report (Survey Design and Implementation) - Quality Report

Sampling procedure

Sampling design

The main focus of the IHLCA-II was to assess the changes in the living conditions of people in Myanmar since IHLCA-I. The national research team considered that the survey design, sampling units and other survey instruments therefore should be as similar as possible to those used in the IHLCA-I.

A stratified multi-stage sample design was used for the IHLCA-I survey with 62 districts as the strata.

Given their special importance, Yangon City and Mandalay City were treated as separate strata. The selection plan in each stratum was as follows. Townships across all districts were used as first stage sampling units (FSU). The sampling frame for the first stage was an official list of townships with their estimated number of households in each district.

The estimated number of households in the excluded 45 townships and from other wards/village tracts represented 5% of the total population.

The second stage sampling unit (SSU) was the ward (urban) or village tract (rural) within the selected townships. The sampling frame for the second stage was the list of wards and villages in the selected townships along with their estimated numbers of households. All wards and village tracts in each selected township within a particular district were grouped into urban/rural substrata. A predetermined number of wards/villages tracts were then drawn with PPES systematic random selection from those township frames.

Listings of Street segments in selected wards (urban) and villages in selected village tracts (rural) with the number of households were made prior to the household survey. Moreover, the survey teams of supervisors drew sketch maps of the street segment inwards and villages prior to the data collection activities and selected the sample households in each community. With the predetermined path in the community on the sketch map and the sampling interval calculated using the total number of household and the fixed sample size, a unique systematic sample could then be drawn conforming to the random selection with a known selection probability.

The IHLCA-II sample design is a modified IHLCA-I sample design which takes into account of changes in the sample frame since 2004 and retains a panel of 50% from IHLCA-I sample of households.

The same sample of areas (street segments and villages) as the IHLCA-I survey areas were kept. There are altogether 1555 areas. Within each area a sample of 12 households was selected. Six households from the 12 IHLCA-I household sample were selected randomly. An additional six households were selected from the “non-IHLCA-I households in the village or street segment. In some (fairly few) cases there were less than six old IHLCA-I households remaining in the village or street segment due to migration and other causes. In that case all remaining IHLCA-I households were included in the sample. If that was the case then the sample of non-IHLCA-I households were increased so the total sample from the village or street segment added up to 12.

The 50 % panel would allow for studies of gross changes (household dynamics) on a sufficiently large sample while at the same time we also make sure that changes in the population are taken into account.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The following survey questionnaires were used for the IHLCA survey11:

The Household questionnaire, administered at household level, included 9 modules covering different aspects of household living conditions: - Module 1: Household Basic Characteristics; - Module 2: Housing; - Module 3: Education; - Module 4: Health; - Module 5: Consumption Expenditures; - Module 6: Household Assets; - Module 7: Labour and Employment; - Module 8: Business - Module 9: Finance and Savings.

The Community questionnaire, administered to local key informants included 4 modules that aimed at providing general information on the village/wards where the survey was being undertaken and at reducing the length of the household interview. The questionnaire was only administered in the first round. Modules included in the Community questionnaire were: - Module 1.1: Village/Ward Infrastructure; - Module 1.2: Population; - Module 1.3: Housing; - Module 1.4: Labour and Employment - Module 1.5: Business Activities; - Module 1.6: Agricultural Activities; - Module 1.7: Finance and Savings; - Module 2: Schools - Module 3: Health facilities - Module 4: Pharmacies and Drug Stores

The Community price questionnaire which aimed at providing information on the prices of specific items in each village/ward surveyed. These prices were collected in case the quality of implicit prices calculated from the household survey was not satisfactory. Since there were no problems with implicit prices, community level prices were not used. The Community price questionnaire comprised of only one module.

The Township Profile questionnaire aimed at collecting administrative information about the Townships included in the survey. It was not used in the data analysis.

All final questionnaires were translated from English to Myanmar.

Depending on the nature of the information to be collected, different types of questions (current status and retrospective) were included in the survey instruments. For instance, current status questions were used to assess Housing condition and level of education and literacy. On the other hand, retrospective questions were also used to collect information on other items including household consumption expenditures. Thus one important issue was the reference period for specific consumption items. In order to minimize recall errors, different reference periods were used for different types of items. In particular, shorter periods were used for smaller items (such as 7days for frequently bought food items and 30 days for less frequently bought food items and non-food items), and longer periods for larger items (such as six months for bulky non-food items and equipment). All above was in line with IHLCA-I.

Cleaning operations

Data editing and coding

Overall editing and coding of the questionnaires received from the field was under the responsibility of the State and Region Level Data Entry Management Committee. The operations involved mainly: - Checking and correcting for inconsistencies in the data; - Identifying and correcting for outliers; - Recoding of variables when necessary.

Data appraisal

First assessment

With regard to potential non-sampling errors, when collecting information from the respondent it was important to plan for several controls: (i) immediately during the interview by the enumerator; (ii) after the interview during the review of the completed questionnaire by the field supervisor and before data entry; and (iii) during data entry. For instance, ranges for data on the monetary value of household expenditures were set, such as minimum and maximum acceptable prices for a given quantity of each major food and non-food item (based on independently obtained data of market prices). The appropriate ranges