Vietnam Environment - 2024

Environment - current issues

logging and slash-and-burn agricultural practices contribute to deforestation and soil degradation; water pollution and overfishing threaten marine life populations; groundwater contamination limits potable water supply; air pollution; growing urban industrialization and population migration are rapidly degrading environment in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City

Environment - international agreements

party to: Biodiversity, Climate Change, Climate Change-Kyoto Protocol, Climate Change-Paris Agreement, Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban, Desertification, Endangered Species, Environmental Modification, Hazardous Wastes, Law of the Sea, Ozone Layer Protection, Ship Pollution, Tropical Timber 2006, Wetlands

signed, but not ratified: none of the selected agreements

Climate

tropical in south; monsoonal in north with hot, rainy season (May to September) and warm, dry season (October to March)

Land use

agricultural land: 34.8% (2018 est.)

arable land: 20.6% (2018 est.)

permanent crops: 12.1% (2018 est.)

permanent pasture: 2.1% (2018 est.)

forest: 45% (2018 est.)

other: 20.2% (2018 est.)

Urbanization

urban population: 39.5% of total population (2023)

rate of urbanization: 2.7% annual rate of change (2020-25 est.)

Revenue from forest resources

1.49% of GDP (2018 est.)

Revenue from coal

0.35% of GDP (2018 est.)

Air pollutants

particulate matter emissions: 20.89 micrograms per cubic meter (2019 est.)

carbon dioxide emissions: 192.67 megatons (2016 est.)

methane emissions: 110.4 megatons (2020 est.)

Waste and recycling

municipal solid waste generated annually: 9,570,300 tons (2011 est.)

municipal solid waste recycled annually: 2,201,169 tons (2014 est.)

percent of municipal solid waste recycled: 23% (2014 est.)

Major rivers (by length in km)

Sông Tiên Giang (Mekong) river mouth (shared with China [s], Burma, Laos, Thailand, Cambodia) - 4,350 km; Pearl river source (shared with China [m]) - 2,200 km; Red river mouth (shared with China [s]) - 1,149 km
note – [s] after country name indicates river source; [m] after country name indicates river mouth

Major watersheds (area sq km)

Pacific Ocean drainage: Mekong (805,604 sq km)

Total water withdrawal

municipal: 1.21 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

industrial: 3.07 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

agricultural: 77.75 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Total renewable water resources

884.12 billion cubic meters (2020 est.)

Geoparks

total global geoparks and regional networks: 3

global geoparks and regional networks: Dak Nong; Dong Van Karst Plateau; Non nuoc Cao Bang (2023)