Myanmar: Net foreign assets (current LCU)

Key figures

What the numbers say

In 2020, Myanmar's net foreign assets (current LCU) rose 1.96 trillion on 2019 (from 10.78 trillion to 12.75 trillion).

Across the 30 yearly changes before that (1990 to 2019), the average change was +359.81 billion and a typical year strayed about 1.2 trillion from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 1.3 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 5.51 trillion in 2012 and the biggest yearly fall was 928.94 billion in 2016. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

From 2011 to 2020 the straight-line trend is upward, about 1.11 trillion a year. A straight line explains 82% of the movement over 10 observed years.

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

A straight-line projection, tested first

Extending that straight line gives about 17.19 trillion for 2023. We show this only because the same method, fitted on earlier years, predicted 2018 to 2020 better than "no change" would have: its average miss was 1.53 trillion, against 2.12 trillion for assuming no change. Treat it as a continuation of the recent pattern, not a forecast of events: it cannot see a recession, a policy change or a revision to the data.

See how a linear trend forecast works and the guide on forecasting without fooling yourself.

Closest to Myanmar in the 2020 ranking

• Afghanistan — 2nd of 3: 871.66 billion
• Singapore — 3rd of 3: 407.83 billion

What this measures

Net foreign assets are the sum of foreign assets held by monetary authorities and deposit money banks, less their foreign liabilities. This indicator is expressed in current prices, meaning no adjustment has been made to account for price changes over time. This series is expressed in local currency units.

All 51 values

Net foreign assets (current LCU) in nearby economies

• Australia — -136.13 billion (2025)
• Brunei Darussalam — 15.89 billion (2025)
• Cambodia — 130.8 trillion (2025)
• China — 30.27 trillion (2024)
• Fiji — 3.45 billion (2025)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 12.08 trillion (2025)
• Indonesia — 2,159.04 trillion (2025)
• Japan — 54.94 trillion (2025)
• Korea, Rep. — 627.85 trillion (2024)
• Macao SAR, China — 883.16 billion (2025)
• Malaysia

More financial sector data for Myanmar

• GDP deflator (base year varies by country) — 227.25 (2025)
• DEC alternative conversion factor (LCU per US$) — US$2,100 (2025)
• Inflation, GDP deflator (annual % growth) — 12.52% (2025)
• Domestic credit to private sector by banks (% of GDP) — 28.98% (2020)
• Monetary sector credit to private sector (% of GDP) — 28.98% (2020)
• Broad money (current LCU) — 74.68 trillion (2020)
• Broad money (% of GDP) — 69.2% (2020)
• Broad money to total reserves ratio — 7.13 (2020)
• Claims on central government, etc. (% of GDP) — 26.09% (2020)
• Domestic credit to private sector (% of GDP)

Reading data like this

• Where to find free public data, and how to check it before you trust it — 2 min read
• Data analysis examples: 6 worked from one dataset — 3 min read
• Real change or random noise? A plain guide to reading your numbers — 2 min read

Questions people ask

What is Myanmar's net foreign assets (current LCU)?

12.75 trillion in 2020, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1970?

It is up 27.88 million% from 45.71 million in 1970 (28.5% a year on average, compounded). The highest value was 12.75 trillion in 2020 and the lowest -13.1 billion in 1990.

Is the latest change in net foreign assets (current LCU) unusual for Myanmar?

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator FM.AST.NFRG.CN, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: International Financial Statistics database, International Monetary Fund (IMF) 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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