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VIET NAM Viet Nam Overview
LAND OF OPPORTUNITIES The Country at a Glance
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DEMOGRAPHICS

According to the 2019 census, Viet Nam’s population was 96.2 million as of April 1, 2019 (up
from about 60 million in 1986), ranking it the 15th most-populous country in the world and
the third most-populous in Southeast Asia, after Indonesia and the Philippines. Average life
expectancy in 2019 was 73.6 years of age.

According to the Statistical Yearbook of 2020, released on June 30, 2021 by the General
Statistics Office of Viet Nam, the national population in 2020 was estimated at 97.58 million,
an increase of over 1.098 million, or 1.14%, compared to 2019.

Viet Nam has a total of 54 ethnic groups, with the Kinh (Viet) accounting for over 86% of the
population. Together with the Kinh, the 53 other ethnic groups form the great family of Viet
Nam. Major ethnic groups include Tay (1.9%), Thai (1.7%), Muong (1.5%), Khmer (1.4%), Chinese
(1.1%), Nung (1.1%), and H’Mong (1%).

Thanks to the successful “Fighting the Illiteracy Enemy” campaign, initiated by President
Ho Chi Minh in 1945, and then its achievements in ensuring universal primary school
education, Viet Nam’s literacy rate stands at more than 95% of those under the age of 25.
The number of people who have graduated from high school or higher account for 39.1%
of the workforce nationwide.

According to the 2020 Human Development Report “The next frontier – Human Development
and the Anthropocene,” released in Viet Nam on December 17, 2020 by the UNDP, Viet Nam’s
human development index (HDI) value for 2019 was 0.704, putting the country in the high
human development category and positioning it at 117 out of 189 countries and territories.
Between 1990 and 2019, the country’s HDI value increased by almost 46%, which is among
the highest growth rates in the world.

The spiritual and religious lives of most Vietnamese are influenced by a complex mixture of
in-house philosophical teachings, and people are free to practice their religious beliefs.

Corn in Mu Cang Chai district,
Northern Yen Bai province.
| PHOTO: Tran Bao Hoa