Economy of Burma

Economy of

Sakura Tower in Yangon
Currency	kyat (MMK)
Fiscal year	1 April – 31 March
Trade organisations	WTO, ASEAN, BIMSTEC
Statistics
GDP	$244.4 billion (PPP) (2014 est.)
GDP rank	75th (nominal)
GDP growth	8.5% (2014 est.)
GDP per capita	$4,800 (PPP) (2014 est.)
GDP by sector	agriculture: 37.1%, industry: 21.3%, services: 41.6% (2014 est.)
Inflation (CPI)	5.9% (2014 est.)
Population below poverty line	26% (2012)
Labour force	32.53 million (2011 est.)
Labour force by occupation	agriculture: 70%, industry: 7%, services: 23% (2001)
Unemployment	37% (2012)
Main industries	agricultural processing; wood and wood products; copper, tin, tungsten, iron; cement, construction materials; pharmaceuticals; fertiliser; petroleum and natural gas; garments, jade and gems
Ease-of-doing-business rank	170th (2017)
External
Exports	$10.49 billion (2016 est.) note: official export figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of timber, gems, narcotics, rice, and other products smuggled to Thailand, China, and Bangladesh
Export goods	natural gas, wood products, pulses, beans, fish, rice, clothing, jade and gems
Main export partners	China 37.7%  Thailand 25.6%  India 7.7%  Japan 6.2% (2015 est.)
Imports	$13.96 billion (2016 est.) note: import figures are grossly underestimated due to the value of consumer goods, diesel fuel, and other products smuggled in from Thailand, China, Malaysia, and India
Import goods	fabric, petroleum products, plastics, fertiliser, machinery, transport equipment, cement, construction materials, crude oil; food products, edible oil
Main import partners	China 42.2%  Thailand 18.5%  Singapore 11%  Japan 4.8% (2015 est.)
Public finances
Public debt	$11 billion (2012)
Revenues	$2.016 billion
Expenses	$4.272 billion (2011 est.)
Economic aid	recipient: $127 million (2001 est.)
Foreign reserves	$8 billion (as of January 2013)
Main data source: CIA World Fact Book All values, unless otherwise stated, are in US dollars.

$10.49 billion (2016 est.)

$13.96 billion (2016 est.)

The economy of Myanmar (also known as Burma) is an emerging economy with an estimated nominal GDP of $63.14 billion and a purchasing power adjusted GDP of $244.37 billion in 2014.

Historically, Burma was the main trade route between India and China since 100 BC. The Mon Kingdom of lower Burma served as important trading centre in the Bay of Bengal.

According to Michael Adas, Ian Brown, and other economic historians of Burma, Burma's pre-colonial economy in Burma was essentially a subsistence economy, with the majority of the population involved in rice production and other forms of agriculture. Burma also lacked a formal monetary system until the reign of King Mindon Min in the middle 19th century.

All land was technically owned by the Burmese monarch. Exports, along with oil wells, gem mining and teak production were controlled by the monarch. Burma was vitally involved in the Indian Ocean trade. Logged teak was a prized export that was used in European shipbuilding, because of its durability, and became the focal point of the Burmese export trade from the 1700s to the 1800s.

After Burma was conquered by the British, it became the wealthiest country in Southeast Asia, after the Philippines. It was also once the world's largest exporter of rice. During British administration, Burma supplied oil through the Burmah Oil Company. This supplying market received a setback through the great depression in the 1930s. Burma suffered, like other countries in this region, from the decline in the total level of global trade. Burma also had a wealth of natural and labour resources. It produced 75% of the world's teak and had a highly literate population. The country was believed to be on the fast track to development.

After a parliamentary government was formed in 1948, Prime Minister U Nu embarked upon a policy of nationalisation. He attempted to make Burma a welfare state by adopting central planning measures. The government also tried to implement a poorly thought out Eight-Year plan. By the 1950s, rice exports had fallen by two thirds and mineral exports by over 96%. Plans were partly financed by printing money, which led to inflation. The 1962 coup d'état was followed by an economic scheme called the Burmese Way to Socialism, a plan to nationalise all industries. The catastrophic program turned Burma into one of the world's most impoverished countries.