Key facts

Population: 49 million (World Development Indicators (WDI), 2007).
Average life expectancy: 62 years (WDI, 2006). UK: 78 years (UN Statistics Division (UNSD), 2007).
Average per capita income: US$230 (market exchange rate, 2008; the Burmese government does not accept this conversion). UK: US$33,800 (purchasing power parity (PPP)) (WDI, 2007).
Gross national income (GNI): US$26.7 billion (purchasing power parity (PPP) rate) (WDI, 2000).
Average annual growth ratee: 5% (WDI, 2005).
Percentage of people not meeting daily food needss: N/A.
Women dying in childbirth: 380 per 100,000 live births (Millennium Development Goals Indicators (MDGI), 2005). UK: 13 per 100,000 (UNSD, 2007).
Children dying before age 5: 104 per 1,000 (WDI, 2006). UK: 6 per 100,000 (UNSD, 2005).
Percentage of children receiving primary school education: less than 50% complete primary school (est.).
Percentage of people aged 15-49 living with HIV/AIDS: 1.3% (UN Development Programme, 2005). UK: 0.2% (UNSD, 2005).
Percentage of people with access to safe, clean water: 80% (MDGI, 2004).
Total UK aid received (2008/09): £57.6m (Source: Statistics for International Development 2009)

Data for Burma is difficult to get hold of and its quality is variable. The Burmese government has completed a Millennium Development Goal report (2005), but its presentation of the data is not entirely consistent.

Progress towards Millennium Development Goals

Burma is one of the poorest countries in Asia and is unlikely to achieve the majority of the MDGs.

MDG 1: Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger
No data is available to enable us to predict Burma’s progress towards this MDG (or lack of it).

MDG 2: Achieve universal primary education
Although more than 90% of children enrol in primary education, the best estimate is that only half of them complete it.

MDG 3: Promote gender equality and empower women
Equal numbers of girls and boys attend and complete primary school

MDG 4: Reduce child mortality
More than 10% of children die before their fifth birthday.

MDG 5: Improve maternal health
At least 380 women in every 100,000 giving birth die during or shortly after the delivery of their babies.

MDG 6: Combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases
According to UNAIDS, some 240,000 people were living with HIV in Burma in 2007, a slight decrease from the previous year.

MDG 7: Ensure environmental sustainability
Some 80% of the population has access to clean water and 87% to improved sanitation.

MDG 8: Develop a global partnership for development
One element of this MDG is access to communications technology. Burma’s rate of adoption of mobile phones has lagged behind that of many other developing countries, with only 0.42 people in every 100 having one.

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