Sagaing (MPI score 0.196) has approximately 2.38 million MPI-poor people. Its poverty profile reflects
the compounding of longstanding structural disadvantages, namely weak rural infrastructure,
agricultural dependency, and limited service coverage, with acute conflict-related disruption that has
fractured livelihoods and displaced communities across the region.
Ayeyarwady has the largest MPI-poor population nationally (approximately 2.65 million), yet its
comparatively moderate severity (MPI score 0.183) indicates a poverty profile shaped more by
long-standing agrarian conditions than acute conflict-driven crisis. A large agrarian population with
limited livelihood diversification, high exposure to natural hazard shocks, and constrained access to
services explains why Ayeyarwady contributes so substantially to national poverty counts despite not
recording the highest deprivation levels.
High severity, small scale: Kayah, Chin, Kachin, Kayin
These states record above-average MPI severity but have smaller populations, so their aggregate
contribution to national poverty counts is more limited. The defining analytical feature of this quadrant
is the disjuncture between the depth of deprivation and the scale of the affected population.
Kayah records the second-highest MPI score nationally (0.328) with a headcount of 68.1 percent,
yet only approximately 0.21 million MPI-poor people. The concentration of severe outcomes within
a small population makes Kayah’s poverty profile one of severity rather than scale, a pattern that
distinguishes it analytically from high-severity, high-scale contexts such as Rakhine.
Chin (MPI score 0.220) has approximately 0.25 million MPI-poor people. Poverty here reflects
structural isolation, such as limited road connectivity, weak service infrastructure, and geographic
barriers to market integration, rather than conflict-driven deterioration alone, though the two interact
in parts of the state.
Kachin (MPI score 0.188) has approximately 0.81 million MPI-poor people. The state’s overall severity
sits above the national average, yet remains lower than Kayah and Chin, reflecting a poverty profile
shaped by the intersection of conflict-related disruption and geographic isolation across rural and
border areas.
Kayin (MPI score 0.153) has approximately 0.51 million MPI-poor people. Its position near the quadrant
boundary reflects a poverty profile where conflict-related disruption overlaps with structural access
constraints, producing moderate but persistent deprivation across a relatively small population.
Low severity, large scale: Mandalay, Shan, Bago, Magway, Yangon
These states and regions record below-average MPI severity but above-average numbers of MPIpoor people, making them the primary drivers of the national poverty headcount. Aggregate poverty
burdens here reflect scale effects rather than the depth of individual household deprivation.
Mandalay (MPI score 0.148) and Shan (MPI score 0.131) each contain approximately two million MPI-poor
people. Despite moderate severity, their population size means poverty outcomes carry considerable
weight in national aggregates. Bago and Magway similarly combine moderate MPI scores (0.118 and
0.128 respectively) with sizeable affected populations of approximately 1.34 million and 1.17 million,
driven largely by structural rural livelihood vulnerabilities and uneven service coverage.
Yangon presents a particularly distinctive profile within this quadrant. An MPI headcount of 20.4
percent (the third-lowest nationally) translates into approximately 1.73 million MPI-poor people within
L AYE R S O F DE P R I VAT I O N : M u l t i di m en si on a l Pov er t y i n M y anmar
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