Like other countries, Myanmar has been deeply affected by COVID-19 pandemic. The prolonged nature of pandemic points that it is more than just a healthcare crisis, affecting various socio-economic aspects across the society. The disruption and overburdening in basic infrastructural services like education and healthcare services as well as sharp and rapid decline in household incomes , and widespread livelihood disruptions is predicted to cause a -2.5 percent downslide in the gross domestic product (GDP) rate in FY2019-2020, according to the Myanmar Economic Monitor – Myanmar in the Time of COVID-19, published by the World Bank in June 2020. 

To facilitate economic recovery, it is important that the government and the development partners be able to actively identify and monitor the factors impacting the economy in a disaggregated manner so as to be able to allocate and prioritize recover efforts effectively. As part of its support to the government towards COVID-19 response and recovery, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is now assisting the Central Statistical Organization (CSO) in developing a Myanmar Statistical Data Dashboard (MMSDD), a user-friendly application where key indicators essential to formulate policy and decision making will be stored and updated regularly.

The indicators in the soon to be operational data dashboard include consumer price index, basic food commodity prices, data on foreign trade, passenger and freight transport by air, data on exchange and interest rates as well as gold, and analysis on COVID-19. The pandemic highlights the need to produce real change, supported by data and ideas. The UNDP supported Myanmar Statistical Data Dashboard will present the most up to date data for the effective response against COVID-19.