Post-coup food prices skyrocket across Myanmar

By DMG 14 Jul 2022

DMG Newsroom
14 July 2022, Sittwe

Soaring food prices in the aftermath of Myanmar’s February 2021 military coup are taking a heavy toll, particularly on low-income families, in the country.

Over the past 16 months, the prices of basic foodstuffs have increased by two to four times their pre-coup levels and sometimes even more, according to a grocery store owner in Pathein, Ayeyarwady Region.

“Prices of basic foodstuffs have increased gradually since the coup. Oil and rice prices have increased the most. Other basic foods such as onions, garlic and salt have also increased in price,” said the grocer.

In Pathein, the capital of Ayeyarwady Region, palm oil prices have increased from K2,000 per viss before the coup to nearly K8,000 per viss now, while peanut oil has risen from K6,000 to K9,000 per viss; garlic from K600 to around K4,000 per viss; onion from K500 to K2,000 per viss; and pepper from K1,000 to between K8,000-10,000 per viss.

The regime’s Commerce Ministry, however, appeared to be working off a different set of books, saying the price of palm oil price dropped to K4,650 from K5,000 per viss in Yangon earlier this month. The retail price in Myanmar’s largest city is around K8,000 per viss, according to local retailers.

Yangon residents described prices as remaining fairly stable in the coup’s immediate aftermath, but rising significantly over the past year.

“Prices did not increase that much [immediately] after the coup, but only five or six months after the coup,” said a housewife from Yangon.

The price of low-quality rice has increase from K15,000 to K36,000 per sack, and other varieties of rice have also increased by an average of K12,000 to K20,000 per sack, with the minimum price for average quality rice hitting K42,000 per sack, according to rice merchants in Yangon.

“Rice prices have shot up, and it is unlikely that it will drop in the near future,” said a rice dealer from the commercial capital.

Residents of the Mon State capital Mawlamyine said they have been struggling to make ends meet.

“The cost of living is increasing steadily, and my salary is barely enough. The rent for the hostel and fuel for my motorbike are costing me a lot. Those with a large number of family members are suffering from even greater hardship,” said a company employee from Mawlamyine.

With the price of some agricultural inputs increasing by as much as threefold and fuel prices doubling, business owners have suggested that inflation is likely to continue unabated for the foreseeable future.