Myanmar: Research and development expenditure (% of GDP)

Key figures

Over five years it is down 0.04 percentage points from 0.06% in 2018. Since 1997 it is down 0.04 percentage points from 0.06% in 1997. The World Bank has no value for 14 of the years in between; the chart leaves those gaps open rather than joining across them.

What the numbers say

In 2023, Myanmar's research and development expenditure (% of GDP) fell 0.01 percentage points on 2022 (from 0.04% to 0.02%).

Across the 10 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2022), the average change was +0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.06 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

On record, the biggest yearly rise was 0.09 percentage points in 2002 and the biggest yearly fall was 0.09 percentage points in 2022. The numbers show how large and when, not why; for the cause, look at what happened in that country in those years.

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

How it compares

In 2023, Myanmar had the 49th highest value of the 50 economies reporting that year. Higher is not always better: for some indicators the lowest value is the one to aim for. See the full ranking.

Closest to Myanmar in the 2023 ranking

• Pakistan — 46th of 50: 0.16%
• Paraguay — 47th of 50: 0.14%
• El Salvador — 48th of 50: 0.1%
• Guatemala — 50th of 50: 0.00609%

What this measures

Gross domestic expenditures on research and development (R&D), expressed as a percent of GDP. They include both capital and current expenditures in the four main sectors: Business enterprise, Government, Higher education and Private non-profit. R&D covers basic research, applied research, and experimental development.

Limitations: Estimates of the resources allocated to R&D are affected by national characteristics such as the periodicity and coverage of national R&D surveys across institutional sectors and industries; and the use of different sampling and estimation methods. R&D typically involves a few large performers, hence R&D surveys use various techniques to maintain up-to-date registers of known performers, while attempting to identify new or occasional performers. R&D totals from SNA accounts may differ from these estimates, due in part to the different treatments of software R&D in the totals.

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

All 13 values

Research and development expenditure (% of GDP) in nearby economies

• Australia — 1.86% (2021)
• China — 2.58% (2023)
• Hong Kong SAR, China — 1.13% (2024)
• Japan — 3.44% (2023)
• Korea, Rep. — 4.94% (2023)
• Macao SAR, China — 0.31% (2024)
• Malaysia — 1.01% (2022)
• Mongolia — 0.08% (2022)
• New Zealand — 1.55% (2023)
• Philippines

More infrastructure data for Myanmar

• Fixed telephone subscriptions — 558,671 (2024)
• Fixed telephone subscriptions (per 100 people) — 1.03 (2024)
• Air transport, registered carrier departures worldwide — 43,257 (2023)
• Air transport, freight (million ton-km) — 9.93 (2023)
• Air transport, passengers carried — 3.54 million (2023)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions — 62.31 million (2024)
• Mobile cellular subscriptions (per 100 people) — 114.33 (2024)
• Medium and high-tech exports (% manufactured exports) — 9.35% (2024)
• Scientific and technical journal articles — 233.94 (2023)
• Individuals using the Internet (% of population)

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 research and development expenditure (% of GDP)?

0.02% in 2023, according to the World Bank (World Development Indicators).

How has it changed since 1997?

It is down 0.04 percentage points from 0.06% in 1997. The highest value was 0.16% in 2002 and the lowest 0.02% in 2023.

How does Myanmar rank?

49th highest of 50 economies with data for 2023.

Is the latest change in research and development expenditure (% of GDP) unusual for Myanmar?

In 2023, Myanmar's research and development expenditure (% of GDP) fell 0.01 percentage points on 2022 (from 0.04% to 0.02%). Across the 10 yearly changes before that (1998 to 2022), the average change was +0.01 percentage points and a typical year strayed about 0.06 percentage points from that (the standard deviation). This year's change was 0.4 standard deviations below that average, so it was an ordinary year: it sits within the range of normal year-to-year movement.

Source

World Bank, World Development Indicators, indicator GB.XPD.RSDV.GD.ZS, licensed CC BY 4.0. Original source: Stat Bulk Data Download Service, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), uri: https://databrowser.uis.unesco.org/resources/bulk, publisher: UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UIS), date accessed: 2025-03-26, date published: 2025-02 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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