Data: International trade by product and country for 2023

Myanmar recorded a trade deficit of $1.69bn in 2023, according to the latest official Myanmar trade data compiled by the ASEAN Data Portal.

The country exported $14.75bn in goods for the year, down 13% from $16.97bn in 2022.

Imports were valued at $16.44bn, down 5% from $17.38bn in 2022.

Exports

By product category, mineral fuels/oils and distilled products were the country’s largest export in 2023 at $3.57bn, down 11%  from 2022. This consists almost exclusively of natural gas exports to China and Thailand.

The decline came as existing gas fields in Myanmar, like Yadana and Yedagun, are experiencing a natural decline in production capacity. While specific data for Myanmar's gas export contracts is not readily available, global gas prices also declined from 2022, which could have contributed to the lower export value. 

Garments were another key export with non-knit clothing, knitted clothing and footwear valued at $2.91bn, $1.48bn and $381m, respectively. Combined, exports of the three products fell 23% for the year. The drop comes after the value of Myanmar’s clothing exports hit record highs last year amid a temporary surge in orders following the COVID-19 pandemic. A number of western clothing brands have also committed to halting or scaling back sourcing from Myanmar due to concerns over alleged labor law violations.

The value of Myanmar’s exports of vegetables remained steady, certain other food and agricultural products saw a decline, potentially due to border trade disruptions and low crop yields.

Exports of ships/boats/floating structures is a peculiar outlier, seeing a significant jump to $459m, almost all of which was to Thailand in Q2.

Details of Myanmnar’s top export products (in $ million) last year are as follows:

Thailand and China were Myanmar’s two largest export partners for the period, valued at $3.58bn and $3.43bn, respectively.

Natural gas accounted for around 56% and 43% of Myanmar’s exports to Thailand and China during this period, respectively, with various agricultural products among the other major exports.

Exports to China have dropped significantly from $5.7bn in 2019, partially attributable to the closure of border trade checkpoints due first to COVID-19 and then to armed conflict.

Exports to the EU, US, and UK, major destinations for Myanmar clothing products, all fell substantially in 2023. The decline comes after a brief post-pandemic surge in orders in 2022 and as fashion brands face pressure to end sourcing from Myanmar amid concerns of labour and human rights violations (see separate article). 

On the other hand South Korea, another key buyer of clothing products, increased its imports from Myanmar by 19% to $404m, although this still remains below pre-pandemic levels.

Details of exports by country (in $ million) are provided below.

Imports

Mineral fuels/oils and related distilled products accounted for 33% of Myanmar’s imports in 2023, valued at $5.4bn, up 3.5% from 2022.

Imports of machinery and mechanical appliances also increased 7% to $965m for the period and imports of electrical machinery rose 2% to $778m.

With regards to raw materials for Myanmar’s garment industry, imports of staple man-made fibres (short cut synthetic fibers) fell 31%, while man-made filaments (long strand synthetic fibres) rose 21%, reflective of shifting production needs.

On the other hand, imports of animal/vegetable fats and plastics fell 9% and 17%, respectively. This decline is possibly due to the military administration’s imposition of import restrictions as part of its attempt to promote domestic production. 

The military administration has imposed import limitations on a wide-range of goods as it attempts to limit the outflow of foreign exchange and promotes its import substitution policy encouraging domestic production over imports. Traders report that rules on import permits change frequently and unexpectedly and there is a great deal of uncertainty about which goods are restricted at any given time.

The major import categories for 2023 (in $ million) are illustrated below:

China was Myanmar’s largest source of imports for the period, valued at $4.1bn.

It was the largest source of raw materials for Myanmar’s garment industry, with import’s of man-made filaments valued at $557m and man-made staple fibres at $465m.

Iron and steel was the second leading import category from China at $503m, with articles of iron and steel also valued at $217m.

Electrical machinery and equipment ($474m), Machinery/mechanical appliances ($347m), fertilizers ($290m) and vehicles ($245m) were other major imports from China.

Singapore was Myanmar’s main source of fuel/oil for the period, valued at 3.5bn.

Myanmar also increased its imports of fuel/oil from Malaysia and Indonesia to $1bn and $381m, respectively.

Thailand was a key supplier of machinery and mechanical appliances ($498m), fuel/oil ($235m) and plastics ($213m).

Details of imports by country (in $ million) are provided below.