Demographics & population — Myanmar
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators.
Profile updated 2026-06-02
⚡ Demographics & population at a glance
Population size, age structure, migration, ethnicity, language, education, and health indicators. Key figure for Myanmar: 56,590,071
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Population overview
- Population
56,590,071
- Population - note
Note: estimates for this country take into account the effects of excess mortality due to AIDS; this can result in lower life expectancy, higher infant mortality, higher death rates, lower population growth rates, and changes in the distribution of the population by age and sex than would otherwise be expected.
- Population Growth Rate
1.05%
- Urban Population
- Population in Major Urban Areas
- RANGOON (capital) 4.457 million
- Mandalay 1.063 million
- Nay Pyi Taw 1.06 million
Age & family
Migration
- Net Migration Rate - migrant(s)/1,000 population
-0.3
Ethnicity & language
- Ethnic Groups
Burman 68%, Shan 9%, Karen 7%, Rakhine 4%, Chinese 3%, Indian 2%, Mon 2%, other 5%
- Language Note
Burma is a nation of many races - some 135 ethnic groups, with their own languages and dialects, make up its population of nearly 45 million. It is impossible to mention more than a few of the races, for Burma is an anthropologist's paradise. The Burmese people call their own language Bamar or Myanmar and it is the main language spoken throughout the country. About 70 percent of the people of Burma speak one or other of the Burma Group of languages while the percentage of those speaking Burmese is estimated at ninety. Despite the diversity and geographic separation, the national groups share with each other a wide variety of social customs and cultures. The Burmese language vocabulary contains a large number of Pali and Sanskrit words. The earliest Burmese writing was the Myazedi Stone Inscription. which is a four-sided stone inscription constructed in 1113 A.D. during the Pagan Period. The inscription is written in Myanmar, Pyu, Mon, and Pali and was discovered in 1887.
- Nationality Noun
Burmese (singular and plural)
Education
- Literacy - total population
89.9%
- Literacy - male
89.9%
- Literacy - female
86.4%
- Literacy Definition
Age 15 and over can read and write
- Education Expenditures - percent of GDP
0.8%
- Total School Life Expectancy - (primary to tertiary)
Health & living conditions
- Life Expectancy at Birth
- Infant Mortality Rate
- Infant Mortality Rate - total deaths/1,000 live births
- Maternal Mortality Rate - deaths/100,000 live births
200
- Physicians Density - physicians/1,000 population
.5
- Hospital Bed Density - beds/1,000 population
.6
- Health Expenditures - percent of GDP
2%
- Major Infectious Diseases - degree of risk
Very high
- Obesity - adult prevalence rate
4%
- Drinking Water Source - percent of urban population improved
- Sanitation Facility Access - percent of urban population improved
- Underweight - percent of children under five years
22.6%