Myanmar floods drive rice prices higher

Yangon – Severe flooding across Myanmar’s main rice‑growing regions has sent prices of the staple grain soaring, sparking panic buying and fears of further shortages.

Traders say a 50‑kilo bag has risen by around 6,000 kyats (US$1.40) in recent days, with premium varieties now selling for more than 200,000 kyats per sack. Transport routes have been submerged, slowing deliveries to Yangon’s wholesale market, while anxious families are buying two or three sacks at a time instead of one.

The surge comes as monsoon rains devastate farmland in Ayeyarwady, Sagaing, Magwe and Mandalay, destroying tens of thousands of acres of paddy. The UN estimates nearly 390,000 people have been affected nationwide, including many already displaced by conflict. In Sagaing alone, more than 230,000 residents have been hit by rising waters.

Villagers describe losing homes, crops and livestock. “The rice seedlings have already been swept away… it’s simply impossible to plant paddy anymore,” one farmer told AFP. Relief centres are sheltering thousands, but supplies of food and clean water remain scarce.

Merchants, meanwhile, fear reprisals from the junta, which has previously detained traders accused of price gouging. Authorities have summoned rice sellers to meetings and signalled plans to cap prices, adding to market uncertainty.

For ordinary households, the impact is immediate. “Rice prices keep increasing day by day. Shwebo Paw Hsan is too expensive for us now,” said a housewife in Yangon’s Insein Township.

With rivers still at danger levels and rains forecast to continue, traders warn that yields could fall further, pushing prices higher still. Aid agencies say the floods have deepened Myanmar’s humanitarian crisis, compounding the effects of war and economic collapse.

-2026-08-17