Myanmar: Expense (% of GDP)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 2.72 percentage points from 16.49% in 2014. Since 2003 it is up 10.72 percentage points from 3.06% in 2003. The World Bank has no value for 6 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2019, Myanmar's expense (% of GDP) rose 7.39 percentage points on 2018 (from 6.38% to 13.78%).

Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2018), the average change was −0.55 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 7.39 percentage points in 2019 and the biggest yearly fall was 10.54 percentage points in 2018. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2012 to 2019 there is no clear straight-line trend: a straight line explains 2% of the movement over 8 observed years, so the value is moving around more than it is heading anywhere.

Worked out from the yearly values above. How the checks work: standard deviation, z-scores and straight-line trends.

How it compares

See how every economy compares in the full ranking.

Closest to Myanmar in the 2019 ranking

• Trinidad and Tobago — 1st of 3: 33.32%
• Angola — 2nd of 3: 14.57%

What this measures

Expense is a decrease in net worth resulting from a transaction. This indicator is expressed as a percentage of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) which is the total income earned through the production of goods and services in an economic territory during an accounting period.

Limitations: For most countries central government finance data have been consolidated into one account, but for others only budgetary central government accounts are available. Countries reporting budgetary data are noted in the country metadata. Because budgetary accounts may not include all central government units (such as social security funds), they usually provide an incomplete picture. In federal states the central government accounts provide an incomplete view of total public finance. Data on government revenue and expense are collected by the IMF through questionnaires to member countries and by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Regional and income-group figures are computed by the World Bank as a weighted average.

All 11 values

Expense (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — 27.58% (2022)
• Cambodia — 12.95% (2023)
• Fiji — 27.76% (2023)
• Japan — 20.06% (2022)
• Kiribati — 83.68% (2023)
• Korea, Rep. — 28.32% (2023)
• Lao PDR — 10.32% (2022)
• Macao SAR, China — 19.59% (2023)
• Malaysia — 17.01% (2023)
• Marshall Islands — 59.44% (2020)
• Micronesia, Fed. Sts. — 23.43% (2020)
• Mongolia — 31.7% (2021)

More public sector data for Myanmar

• Military expenditure (current USD) — 5.01 billion (2024)
• Military expenditure (current LCU) — 10.63 trillion (2024)
• Arms imports (SIPRI trend indicator values) — 70 million (2025)
• Military expenditure (% of GDP) — 6.6% (2024)
• Grants and other revenue (current LCU) — 9.71 trillion (2019)
• Grants and other revenue (% of revenue) — 58.43% (2019)
• Revenue, excluding grants (current LCU) — 16.21 trillion (2019)
• Revenue, excluding grants (% of GDP) — 14.39% (2019)
• Taxes on goods and services (current LCU) — 4.06 trillion (2019)
• Taxes on goods and services (% of revenue)

Reading data like this

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Questions people ask

What is Myanmar's expense (% of GDP)?

13.78% in 2019, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 2003?

It is up 10.72 percentage points from 3.06% in 2003. The highest value was 17.04% in 2015 and the lowest 2.81% in 2005.

Is the latest change in expense (% of GDP) unusual for Myanmar?

In 2019, Myanmar's expense (% of GDP) rose 7.39 percentage points on 2018 (from 6.38% to 13.78%). Across the 8 yearly changes before that (2004 to 2018), the average change was −0.55 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 4.37 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.8 standard deviations above that average, so it was larger than a typical year, though not out of the range seen before.

Where does this data come from?

The World Bank's World Development Indicators, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GC.XPN.TOTL.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Government Finance Statistics Yearbook and data files, International Monetary Fund (IMF); World Development Indicators, World Bank (WB); National Accounts data files, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) Figures are fetched from the World Bank API and refreshed monthly; see the series on data.worldbank.org. The full definition and method are in the World Bank's metadata glossary. Comparisons use the same World Bank release.

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