Myanmar units of measurement


The traditional Burmese units of measurement were still in everyday use in Myanmar. According to the 2010 CIA Factbook, Myanmar is one of three countries that have not adopted the International System of Units metric system as their official system of weights and measures. However, in June 2011, the Burmese government's Ministry of Commerce began discussing proposals to reform the measurement system in Burma and adopt the metric system used by most of its trading partners, and in October 2013, Dr. Pwint San, Deputy Minister for Commerce, announced that the country was preparing to adopt the metric system.
Most of the nation uses Burmese units only, although Burmese government web pages in English use imperial and metric units inconsistently. For instance, the Ministry of Construction uses miles to describe the length of roads and square feet for the size of houses, but square kilometres for the total land area of new town developments in Yangon City. The Ministry of Agriculture uses acres for land areas. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs uses kilometres to describe the dimensions of the country.

Length

Mass

Volume

Money

Adoption of SI (metric) system

In October 2013, the Ministry of Commerce announced that Myanmar was preparing to adopt the International System of Units as the country's official system of measurement.
Examples of metrication in Myanmar include weather forecasts by the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology being given with temperatures in Celsius. Petrol in Myanmar is sold with prices in Burmese kyat per litre. Speed limits in Myanmar are given by law in kilometres per hour. Speedometers and odometers on cars in Myanmar are also mostly metric, since most cars are imported from neighbouring countries using the metric system. Road signs in Myanmar have for long been poorly standardized, with for example the highway traffic signs of the Yangon–Mandalay Expressway not complying with international standards, and it is not uncommon to see dual unit speed and distance signs showing both kilometres and miles. However, new signs tend to be metric only and to follow the Vienna Convention. Most supermarket goods are now sold with prices in Burmese kyat per kilogram, while traditional Burmese units of measurements still are being used in some local markets.