YANGON, Myanmar — While the total fertility rate in Myanmar is 2.5 children per woman, and on par with ASEAN averages, new and more detailed data tell a very different story: Married women in Myanmar give birth to five children on average. Married women in Chin give birth to nine children on average, compared to four in Yangon. The findings come from the 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census Thematic Report on Fertility and Nuptiality.
Fertility rates are strongly influenced by geographical and socioeconomic factors, including the level of education of women. The adolescent fertility rate is 33 births annually per 1,000 women aged 15-19, with regional highs in Shan and Chin. Births by very young women are of concern not least because they tend to have adverse health consequences for both mother and child.
“The report uncovers the hardship of parents who struggle to care for large families. It reveals the vulnerability of women who cannot access the contraceptives they want. Poor and uneducated women in remote areas carry the heaviest burden.The findings highlight the need for better family planning options, and for investment in girls’ education”, says Janet E. Jackson, UNFPA Representative for Myanmar.
The report also shows that an exceptionally high proportion of women in Myanmar never marry. Twelve per cent remain never-married at age 50. This is the second-highest figure in Southeast Asia after Singapore (13 per cent). Myanmar has more than four times as many never-married women as Laos, and more than twice as many as Viet Nam and Cambodia.
For women that do marry, the mean age at first marriage is 23.6 years, up from 21.3 years in 1973. People tend to choose spouses with similar literacy and education levels. Divorce rates in Myanmar are low: 3 per cent of women and 2 per cent of men are divorced or separated.
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UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, delivers a world where every pregnancy is wanted, every childbirth is safe and every young person’s potential is fulfilled.
For more information, please contact:
Yenny Gamming; Tel: +95- (0)9 2604 00005; gamming@unfpa.org
Si Thu Soe Moe; Tel: +95- (0)9 4500 57730; soemoe@unfpa.org
Download: Fertility and Nuptiality report (2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census)
Key figures
Total Fertility Rate: Myanmar: 2.51; Urban: 1.91; Rural: 2.78; Chin: 5.00 (high); Yangon: 1.85 (low)
Total Marital Fertility Rate: Myanmar: 4.99; Urban: 4.36; Rural: 5.22; Chin: 9.17 (high); Yangon: 4.04 (low)
Adolescent fertility rate: Myanmar: 33 births annually per 1,000 women aged 15-19; Shan: 59; Chin: 50
Fertility and Nuptiality report presentation slides
Notes to Editors
The main results of the 2014 Myanmar Population and Housing Census were published in May 2015. The thematic report on Fertility and Nuptiality is one of the first in a series of 13. The thematic reports contain new data as well as previously released data which have been statistically adjusted for higher accuracy. The reports analyse the relationship between different data, and shed light on what the numbers tell us about the lives of people in Myanmar. The census was conducted by the Government of Myanmar. UNFPA has provided, and continues to provide, technical and financial support towards the census.
