Deputy PM Tran Hong Ha leads Committee on Population and Development

The steering committee, established in 2022, is responsible for coordinating ministries and sectors in handling important and interdisciplinary issues on population and development and putting fowards proposals on population and development. 

The Ministry of Health was assigned to serve as the permanent agency of the steering committee.

Viet Nam is likely to welcome the 100 millionth citizen in April, according to the Population and Labor Statistics Department under the General Statistics Office (GSO).

Population of 100 million offers both great opportunities and challenges

Viet Nam is set to become one of 15 countries in the world and one of three countries in Southeast Asia, to have a population of 100 million or over. 

A population of 100 million people will bring great human resources in many aspects for the socio-economic development of the country.

Viet Nam has now entered the period known as the ‘golden population structure’, which means that there is only one dependent person for every two or more working-age persons aged 15-64 years.

Moreover, the working-age population is currently approximately 68 million which provides a huge labor resource for the country.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) in Viet Nam, having a population of 100 million means that the country has a large domestic market with the possibility to attract more foreign direct investment with the availability of a well-educated and skilled labor force who have innovative and creative minds in the country.

It is expected that Viet Nam's golden population period will continue until 2039, with more young population groups who have high labor productivity; therefore, the country has the advantage of population structure to promote economic growth.

However, fertility decline is one of the challenges which push up Viet Nam’s aging population process.

Declining fertility rates and limitations on the number of children and available technologies have resulted in widespread gender-biased sex selection and it is estimated 47,000 missing female births annually.

It is forecasted that the country will have an excess of 1.5 million men aged 15-49 and the number will reach 2.5 million by 2059.

There will be many challenges in the future such as economic issues, social security, and health care for the elderly when entering the age of the population./.