Military rule hurts Myanmar’s economy, nation scores zero in civil liberty index | Data

Myanmar's civil war, following the military coup, has led to a decline in democracy, civil liberties, and press freedom, while severely impacting the economy.

Nearly three years since Myanmar’s military junta overthrew a democratically elected National League for Democracy (NLD) government led by Aung San Suu Kyi, the country is wracked by civil war. While the National Unity Government formed by the NLD — many of whose representatives along with elected parliamentarians are in exile — gave the call for armed action leading to various Peoples Defence Forces taking on the military, several ethnic armed organisations (EAO) have also fought the junta.

Early this month, after months of intense conflict that resulted in the junta losing control over scores of towns and military outposts to a coalition of three EAOs — the Ta’ang National Liberation Army, the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army, and the Arakan Army, who called themselves the Three Brotherhood Alliance, a China brokered ceasefire agreement was signed between the alliance and the junta.

But hostilities continue. The prolonged civil war has severely disrupted the economy even as the junta suspended civil liberties and political freedoms following the coup. The number of journalists imprisoned shot up considerably and the Human Development Index plunged after years of growth.

Chart 1 | The chart plots Myanmar’s electoral democracy index by V-Dem (0: least democratic, 1: most democratic).

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In 2020, just before the junta took over, this index reached a peak, with Myanmar ranking 101 of 179 nations, better than Malaysia’s and India’s. In 2022, the rankings plunged to 173, closer to North Korea and Afghanistan (Chart 1).

Chart 2 | The chart plots the liberal democracy index by V-Dem, which combines voting rights, freedom of association, and civil liberties (0: least democratic, 1: most democratic).