Monitoring the agri-food system in Myanmar: The rising costs of diets – September 2024 survey round

We assess changes in food prices and diet costs based on large-scale surveys of food vendors (fielded from June 2020 until March 2024) and households (fielded in six periods in 2022 and 2023) in rural and urban areas and in all states/regions of Myanmar.

Key Findings:

• Between early 2023 and early 2024, the cost of a healthy and commonly consumed diet increased by 29 and 37 percent respectively.
• Prices of rice – the major staple – were more than two and a half times higher in early 2024 compared to two years prior. Prices rose by 62 percent between February 2023 and March 2024.
• Between early 2022 and early 2024, the price of onions tripled; the price of pulses, leafy greens, bananas, and sugar doubled or nearly doubled; the price of most animal source foods increased by 60–75 percent; and the price of oil declined slightly.
• The highest costs of common and healthy diets are seen in conflict-affected Rakhine, Chin, Kayah, and Shan states. In March 2024, the costs of the healthy and common diets in Rakhine were 60 and 31 percent higher, respectively, than the national average, while common diet costs were 11 percent higher in Chin and healthy diet costs were 9 percent higher in Shan.
• Diet costs spatially adjusted for differences in casual wage rates are highest in Rakhine and Kayah, indicating that diet costs are least affordable for wage earners in these states.
• The highest rate of food price inflation over the last 13 months was noted in Rakhine State. The costs of a common diet in March 2024 increased there worryingly by 89 percent compared to February 2023, seemingly linked to increased movement restrictions and the recent high conflict intensity.