Myanmar's minimum wage increases

Myanmar’s Minimum Wage Further Increase with New Surplus Allowance

The National Committee for Setting the Minimum Wage has issued Notification No. 1/2025 on 14 October 2025, announcing an additional daily surplus allowance for workers, effective from 1 October 2025.

Under this new Notification, an additional MMK 1,000 per working day will be added to the current surplus allowance, resulting in a total daily wage of MMK 7,800 for an 8-hour working day.

New Daily Wage

Myanmar’s legally prescribed base minimum wage remains MMK 4,800 for an 8-hour day (or MMK 600 per hour) under Notification No. 2/2018, which applies nationwide to all industries. Subsequently, through Notification No. 2/2023 (effective 1 October 2023) and Notification No. 1/2024 (effective 1 August 2024), surplus allowances of MMK 1,000 per day were successively added to the base wage. As of August 2024, the total daily wage had reached MMK 6,800. The newly issued Notification No. 1/2025 now adds another MMK 1,000, bringing the total to MMK 7,800 per day.

This adjustment reflects the government’s continued effort to recognise the rising cost of living and provide wage relief to workers across the country.

Key Exemption for Small Businesses

A key point for employers to note is the exemption for small enterprises. The Notification explicitly states that its provisions “shall not apply to small businesses or family-owned businesses with ten or fewer workers.”

Such micro-enterprises are therefore not required to pay this latest surplus allowance, recognising the financial constraints faced by smaller employers.