Vietnam People - 2023
SOURCE: 2023 CIA WORLD FACTBOOK
Population
104,799,174 (2023 est.)
Nationality
noun: Vietnamese (singular and plural)
adjective: Vietnamese
Ethnic groups
Kinh (Viet) 85.3%, Tay 1.9%, Thai 1.9%, Muong 1.5%, Khmer 1.4%, Mong 1.4%, Nung 1.1%, other 5.5% (2019 est.)
note: 54 ethnic groups are recognized by the Vietnamese Government
Languages
Vietnamese (official), English (increasingly favored as a second language), some French, Chinese, and Khmer, mountain area languages (Mon-Khmer and Malayo-Polynesian)
major-language sample(s):
Dữ kiện thế giới, là nguồn thông tin cơ bản không thể thiếu. (Vietnamese)
The World Factbook, the indispensable source for basic information.
Religions
Catholic 6.1%, Buddhist 5.8%, Protestant 1%, other 0.8%, none 86.3% (2019 est.)
note: most Vietnamese are culturally Buddhist
Demographic profile
When Vietnam was reunified in 1975, the country had a youthful age structure and a high fertility rate. The population growth rate slowed dramatically during the next 25 years, as fertility declined and infant mortality and life expectancy improved. The country’s adoption of a one-or-two-child policy in 1988 led to increased rates of contraception and abortion. The total fertility rate dropped rapidly from nearly 5 in 1979 to 2.1 or replacement level in 1990, and at 1.8 is below replacement level today. Fertility is higher in the more rural central highlands and northern uplands, which are inhabited primarily by poorer ethnic minorities, and is lower among the majority Kinh, ethnic Chinese, and a few other ethnic groups, particularly in urban centers. With more than two-thirds of the population of working age (15-64), Vietnam has the potential to reap a demographic dividend for approximately three decades (between 2010 and 2040). However, its ability to do so will depend on improving the quality of education and training for its workforce and creating jobs. The Vietnamese Government is also considering changes to the country’s population policy because if the country’s fertility rate remains below replacement level, it could lead to a worker shortage in the future.
Vietnam has experienced both internal migration and net emigration, both for humanitarian and economic reasons, for the last several decades. Internal migration – rural-rural and rural-urban, temporary and permanent – continues to be a means of coping with Vietnam’s extreme weather and flooding. Although Vietnam’s population is still mainly rural, increasing numbers of young men and women have been drawn to the country’s urban centers where they are more likely to find steady jobs and higher pay in the growing industrial and service sectors.
The aftermath of the Vietnam War in 1975 resulted in an outpouring of approximately 1.6 million Vietnamese refugees over the next two decades. Between 1975 and 1997, programs such as the Orderly Departure Program and the Comprehensive Plan of Action resettled hundreds of thousands of Vietnamese refugees abroad, including the United States (880,000), China (260,000, mainly ethnic Chinese Hoa), Canada (160,000), Australia (155,000), and European countries (150,000).
In the 1980s, some Vietnamese students and workers began to migrate to allied communist countries, including the Soviet Union, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and East Germany. The vast majority returned home following the fall of communism in Eastern Europe in the early 1990s. Since that time, Vietnamese labor migrants instead started to pursue opportunities in Asia and the Middle East. They often perform low-skilled jobs under harsh conditions for low pay and are vulnerable to forced labor, including debt bondage to the private brokers who arrange the work contracts. Despite Vietnam’s current labor surplus, the country has in recent years attracted some foreign workers, mainly from China and other Asian countries.Age structure
0-14 years: 23.44% (male 12,975,791/female 11,593,157)
15-64 years: 68.69% (male 36,280,449/female 35,705,586)
65 years and over: 7.87% (2023 est.) (male 3,346,804/female 4,897,387)
Dependency ratios
total dependency ratio: 45.6
youth dependency ratio: 32.8
elderly dependency ratio: 12.7
potential support ratio: 7.8 (2021 est.)
Median age
total: 31.9 years
male: 30.8 years
female: 33 years (2020 est.)
Population growth rate
0.93% (2023 est.)
Birth rate
15.29 births/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Death rate
5.77 deaths/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Net migration rate
-0.21 migrant(s)/1,000 population (2023 est.)
Population distribution
though it has one of the highest population densities in the world, the population is not evenly dispersed; clustering is heaviest along the South China Sea and Gulf of Tonkin, with the Mekong Delta (in the south) and the Red River Valley (in the north) having the largest concentrations of people
Urbanization
urban population: 39.5% of total population (2023)
rate of urbanization: 2.7% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)
Major urban areas - population
9.321 million Ho Chi Minh City, 5.253 million HANOI (capital), 1.865 million Can Tho, 1.423 million Hai Phong, 1.221 million Da Nang, 1.111 million Bien Hoa (2023)
Sex ratio
at birth: 1.1 male(s)/female
0-14 years: 1.12 male(s)/female
15-64 years: 1.02 male(s)/female
65 years and over: 0.68 male(s)/female
total population: 1.01 male(s)/female (2023 est.)
Maternal mortality ratio
124 deaths/100,000 live births (2020 est.)
Infant mortality rate
total: 14.42 deaths/1,000 live births
male: 14.76 deaths/1,000 live births
female: 14.05 deaths/1,000 live births (2023 est.)
Life expectancy at birth
total population: 75.79 years
male: 73.22 years
female: 78.62 years (2023 est.)
Total fertility rate
2.04 children born/woman (2023 est.)
Gross reproduction rate
0.97 (2023 est.)
Contraceptive prevalence rate
72.8% (2020)
Drinking water source
improved: urban: 99.2% of population
rural: 95.5% of population
total: 96.9% of population
unimproved: urban: 0.8% of population
rural: 4.5% of population
total: 3.1% of population (2020 est.)
Current health expenditure
4.7% of GDP (2020)
Physicians density
0.83 physicians/1,000 population (2016)
Hospital bed density
3.2 beds/1,000 population (2013)
Sanitation facility access
improved: urban: 98.7% of population
rural: 90% of population
total: 93.3% of population
unimproved: urban: 1.3% of population
rural: 10% of population
total: 6.7% of population (2020 est.)
Major infectious diseases
degree of risk: very high (2023)
food or waterborne diseases: bacterial diarrhea, hepatitis A, and typhoid fever
vectorborne diseases: dengue fever, malaria, and Japanese encephalitis
Obesity - adult prevalence rate
2.1% (2016)
Alcohol consumption per capita
total: 3.41 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
beer: 3.18 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
wine: 0.02 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
spirits: 0.21 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
other alcohols: 0 liters of pure alcohol (2019 est.)
Tobacco use
total: 24.8% (2020 est.)
male: 47.4% (2020 est.)
female: 2.2% (2020 est.)
Children under the age of 5 years underweight
13.4% (2017)
Currently married women (ages 15-49)
72.6% (2023 est.)
Education expenditures
4.1% of GDP (2020 est.)
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over can read and write
total population: 95.8%
male: 97%
female: 94.6% (2019)
Youth unemployment rate (ages 15-24)
total: 7.2%
male: 7.1%
female: 7.5% (2021 est.)
NOTE: The information regarding Vietnam on this page is re-published from the 2023 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Vietnam 2023 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Vietnam 2023 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.
This page was last modified 06 Dec 23, Copyright © 2023 ITA all rights reserved.