Household Welfare Monitoring in the Lao PDR

New: Round 10 Survey

The World Bank in the Lao PDR began a series of Rapid Monitoring Phone Surveys in 2020 to monitor the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 on Lao households. Surveys have continued after the pandemic so that data is available on the country’s ongoing economic challenges. These surveys are now funded by the Australian government and the European Union through the Lao PDR Third Public Financial Management Reform Program, implemented by the World Bank. The tenth and latest survey round ran from January 22 to February 23, 2025.

Despite recent improvements in the Lao economy, imbalances persist and significant challenges remain. In 2024, economic growth was estimated at 4.1%, driven by sectors such as tourism, transport, electricity, mining, agriculture, and manufacturing. However, growth has not yet returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. The kip depreciated by 6% against the US dollar on the official market, indicating reduced pressure and greater stability compared to the 18% depreciation recorded in 2023.

Although it remains in double digits, year-on-year inflation has steadily declined from a peak of 41.3% in February 2023 to 11.2% in March 2025. A prolonged period of high inflation and currency depreciation has reshaped the labor market, eroded household living standards, accelerated outmigration, and undermined human capital development in the Lao PDR.

This webpage provides links to the results of all survey rounds, plus a report on public service delivery and citizen expectations from the government response to COVID-19, drawing mainly on results from the second survey round. Round 6 was accompanied by a qualitative survey, conducted in late 2022 to provide a better understanding of how rural people perceived the economic and social impacts of both the COVID-19 pandemic and the deteriorating economic situation, particularly spiraling inflation.

The survey questionnaire is designed to cover themes such as access to staple foods, food insecurity, employment, the impact of inflation on households, family businesses and farms, economic activities and income, coping mechanisms, and access to social assistance. The results of further rounds of the survey will be published as they become available.

Latest Key Results

• Wage growth remains steady, with easing inflation moderating the decline in real wages and reducing the pressure on workers to shift from wage employment to self-employment. Annual wage growth was 13% in December 2024, and with inflation decreasing from 24.4% to 16.9%, the decline in real wages narrowed from 11.2% in 2023 to 3.9% in 2024.
• Profit growth among non-farm family businesses has slowed, falling behind wage growth. Average profits increased by 7.4% in the year to December 2024, below both the annual wage growth rate of 13% and the year-on-year inflation rate of 16.9%.
• Households continue to expand agricultural activities and commercialize outputs, as returns from farming remained more favorable than those from non-farm family businesses.
• Labor migration continues, with workers seeking better opportunities and higher wages abroad. A third of the number of migrants reported in January 2025 left Laos in 2024. Remittances from migrants support household incomes: 8.6% of households received remittances in 2024, at an average of 22.9 million kip annually, equivalent to about 76% of the annual minimum wage.
• Double-digit inflation continued to disproportionately affect low-income households. While average per capita income among better-off households had risen by 16.6% by December 2024, closely matching the 16.9% inflation rate, income for low-income households increased by only 9.7%, resulting in a 6.9% decline in real per capita income.
• Over 82% of households still report being affected by inflation. However, households reporting a significant negative impact declined from 52.9% to 45% over the year.
• To deal with high food prices, households continue with coping strategies such as scaling up own-food production, shifting to cheaper food items, relying on savings, and foraging.
• Post-harvest food insecurity levels are largely unchanged and poorer households remain vulnerable. Low-income households report the highest prevalence of moderate to severe food insecurity, at 36.2%.
• A third of households still report reducing their health and education expenses. In January 2025, 30.7% of households reported cutting education spending, and 35.7% reported cutting healthcare spending due to inflation.
• Children from low-income households are more likely to be out of school: 11.4% of school-age children from low-income households were not enrolled in January 2025, more than double the 4.5% rate among children from better-off households.
• Public services remain largely accessible, with almost all respondents reporting no difficulties accessing administrative or medical services.

Last Updated: Apr 10, 2025