Myanmar was doing well in 2020 in terms of the projected GDP growth rate. In 2020, Myanmar was able to maintain a positive GDP growth (according to IMF: 3.19%; according to ADB: 3.3%) even after being affected by the Covid-19 Pandemic.    It was among the only 27 countries left with positive economic growth globally in the aftermath of the pandemic in 2020. That positive picture might have been caused by the high baseline economic growth as well as Myanmar’s ability to control the two initial waves of Covid-19. Very unfortunately, Myanmar has suffered a lot including economic growth after the coup d’état.

In 2021,  the GDP growth rate of Myanmar was projected to decline to (- 8.89%), dragging Myanmar down to the 191st position in the world. Falling down from a high rank globally in 2020 to almost at the bottom of the ranking list in 2021 (191st position out of 194 countries)  highlighted how much the country’s economy has been ruined. In 2021, most countries will recover from the decline of 2020. Only 14 countries will be left in the negative GDP growth and Myanmar is in that unfortunate group.  It is ranked as the third-worst economy in the whole world with a reduction of – 8.89%.  The Asia Development Bank (ADB) in its recent September estimates even projected further greater GDP decline to a level of (-18.4%). Myanmar is the only country in the South-East Asia region with negative growth. Such a decline from seventh place to the 191st rank will be the most drastic even in the whole world. Myanmar was profoundly stricken with a double whammy: COVID-19 Pandemic and more destructive coup d’état.

Reference

[1] https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WEO/weo-database/2021/April/

[2] https://statisticstimes.com/economy/countries-by-projected-gdp-growth.php

[3] https://data.adb.org/dataset/gdp-growth-asia-and-pacific-asian-development-outlook