One in four Myanmar youth, nearly 4 million, not employed: UNDP  

By Admin 03 Oct 2025

DMG Newsroom

3 October 2025, Mrauk-U
 
An estimated one in four youths across Myanmar, nearly 4 million people, are unemployed and their futures are on hold, according to a report released by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) on October 2.
 
The report, titled “A Generation on Hold,” said that conflict-affected regions such as Kayah and Arakan states are disproportionately impacted by youth unemployment. More than 54 percent of youth are unemployed in Kayah State and more than 43 percent of Arakan State youth are unemployed.
 
The report found that young people, who make up more than one-third of Myanmar’s population, are facing a bleak future, with precarious education arrangements and deteriorating income opportunities due to political instability, economic decline and social hardship.
 
“During the war, my house is not as comfortable as before,” said a young Arakanese man. “I was thinking about doing something to make a living, but I still needed money, so I was in a state of uncertainty. During this period, I had to make decisions about the age at which I would go to school. As for us, we had to prioritise our livelihood over education, so I had to keep quiet about what I would do in the future.”
 
Most of the working youth are engaged in their own farming or other casual employment, which are subject to income volatility and job uncertainty.
 
“The stalling of education-to-work transitions in Myanmar is not just an economic challenge, it is also a wake-up call that threatens an entire generation,” said Kanni Wignaraja, UNDP’s regional director for Asia and the Pacific.
 
The UNDP report shows that three out of four young people between the ages of 18 and 24 are missing out on education.
 
The number of out-of-school children rises to nearly four in five in rural areas, especially in Tanintharyi and Sagaing regions and Chin and Kayin states.
 
The report says that rural youth suffer more from lack of access to vocational jobs and education compared to urban youth.
 
The gender gap in education and employment opportunities is stark, with young women much more likely to lose out on education due to domestic responsibilities compared to men, and women earning an average of 22 percent less than men, the report said.
 
Many young people from across the country, including Arakan State, are leaving Myanmar due to lack of job opportunities, income inequality, and family financial difficulties.

A young woman from Kayin State said, “Nothing is certain right now. Even if I want to work after school, it’s even harder in [post-coup] Myanmar, where there were already few job opportunities. The salary I earn and the money I spend are completely out of balance. In the end, I chose to go abroad.”

Young people say that the military service law that followed the coup has also been a driving force behind the exodus.The UNDP report urges that vocational training be implemented regionally as soon as possible.