Recognizing the importance of reliable, comprehensive and up to date statistics for the development of evidence-based policies, the briefing paper provides practical support to policy-makers and practitioners on the collection of data based on the International Labour Migration Statistics in ASEAN (ILMS) methodology and following the guidelines in the Handbook for Improving the Production and Use of Migration Data for Development. The first section of the paper introduces key concepts and definitions used internationally for data collection related to migration, addresses the challenges in collecting reliable data and identifies how certain data bases can feed into policy development in countries of origin, destination and for bilateral agreements. Section two provides details of the data and statistics currently available in Myanmar, under the three internationally recognized sources: Population Census; Administrative Data and Sample Surveys. This section also provide available data on Myanmar migrants in countries of destination. Finally the paper provides a set of recommendations to improve data collection for evidence-based policy development and for reporting on the progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals related to labour migration. The Annex provide detailed tables of current available statistics.

It is hoped this Briefing Paper will also stimulate new ideas for future data collection and support the integration of labour migration into national development plans.