Data Matters No. 39
The number of internally displaced people (IDPs) in Myanmar due to armed conflict following the coup has reached at least 1,912,769 as of December 14, 2022. There were already at least 497,200 IDPs on the run before the coup, and the number of cross-border refugees before and since the coup has reached at least 1,019,190. These numbers indicate that almost 7 percent of the country’s total population are now fleeing from armed conflict.
As the cases of armed clashes have increased in 2022, the number of IDPs have also increased by at least 1,355,144 in the same time period. This number is almost two and a half times larger than the previous year 2021. Sagaing Region has the largest increase in the number of IDPs since the coup—at least 790,000, which accounts for nearly 15 percent of the total population in Sagaing Region. Moreover, the number of IDPs across the country continues to increase. In early December this year, at least 1,400 local people had to flee to safe areas because of intense fighting between SAC forces and the Ta’ang National Liberation Army (TNLA) in Namhsan township, Northern Shan State.