Although the employed population has increased, labour market quality has yet to improve with a large portion of informal workers, according to the General Statistics Office of Việt Nam (GSO).

As of the fourth quarter of 2023, the number of employed workers is 51.5 million, increasing by 130,400 people compared to the previous quarter and 414,600 compared to the same period last year, the GSO said in a recent report on the 2023 socio-economic situation.

The growth is attributed to increased production and business activities in response to Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday demands.

Việt Nam’s labour force (aged 15 and above) in 2023 counts for 52.4 million people. Among them, 51.3 million people are employed, an increase of 1.35 per cent compared to the previous year.

Most of them work in services (20.3 million people), followed by industrial sectors and construction (17.2 million people), and agriculture, forestry and fisheries (13.8 million people).

The country’s total population is estimated at 100.3 million, rising 0.84 per cent in comparison to 2022.

According to the GSO, the average monthly income in 2023 is VNĐ7.1 million (US$293), growing by VNĐ459,000 ($19) or 6.9 per cent year-on-year.

There is a wage gap between workers of different genders and in different locations, with men earning a monthly average of VNĐ8.1 million ($334) against VNĐ6 million ($247) for women.

The average monthly income for workers in urban areas is VNĐ8.7 million ($359), while this figure is VNĐ6.2 million ($256) in rural areas.

The GSO report also revealed that the average income per capita in 2023 is estimated at 4.95 million ($204) per person per month, increasing by 5.9 per cent compared to the previous year.

According to surveys, 30.4 per cent of households were negatively impacted by hiking prices, while 4.6 per cent were affected by diseases.

As of Q4-2023, the number of unemployed people in the working age is 1.06 million, or 2.03 per cent of the country’s labour force.

Particularly, with efforts to carry out comprehensive measures to recover and develop the labour market, the unemployment rate in the southeastern region decreased by 0.41 percentage points to 2.67 per cent in Q4, said the GSO.

In HCM City, a municipality in the region and the largest economic hub of the country, the unemployment rate stands at 2.91 per cent, 0.78 percentage points lower than the previous quarter.

Brief reports from localities also showed that the number of workers temporarily made redundant in Q4 also decreased, now standing at around 77,800 people.

Most of them worked in foreign-invested companies (72.6 per cent), and in footwear and textile businesses (respectively 45.7 per cent and 25.1 per cent).

Approximately 85,500 people lost their jobs in Q4-2023 (32,900 people less compared to the previous quarter and 32,100 less compared to the same period last year). A majority of them were working in the non-public sector (75.2 per cent) and in HCM City (28,100 people)

Vietnam's economy has been growing steadily for several years

The education level of the country’s labour force has increased significantly, which boosted domestic innovation in various sectors and attracted international investors. However, the Covid-19 pandemic posed a major challenge to policymakers: the Vietnamese labour market experienced a severe setback as industries were forced to close, workers were pushed back into the informal sector and Vietnam’s previously world leading levels of female participation in the workplace were reduced. Furthermore, the evidence upon which policy decisions were supposed to be based was not detailed or recent enough to effectively monitor the impact of decisions or to understand which sections of society were at risk of being left behind.

​To support Vietnam's Ministry of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA) in developing a more flexible, efficient and sustainable post-Covid labour market the Vietnamese Department of Employment (DoE), General Statistics Office (GSO), Institute for Labour Science and Social Affairs (ILSSA) and the German Agency for International Cooperation (GIZ) designed three distinct working streams focusing on the following activities:

1. improving the overall data ecosystem in the Ministry by enhancing data sharing and governance between different governmental and non-governmental institutions

2. development of a blueprint for how to access a new data source (such as online job vacancy data from a private partner)

3. strengthening of policymakers’ capacity to effectively interpret and use conventional and new data in decision-making processes

The objective is to make data-based information accessible for policymakers through a comprehensive Labour Market Information System. In the longer term, this can also be available to other users, such as local public employment offices, universities and training centres.

A Labour Market Information System with access to online job vacancy (OJV) data can improve policymakers’ decision-making - especially given the still lingering effects of the Covid-19 pandemic. The combination of new data sources with existing administrative and census data allows for a more comprehensive picture of current labour market dynamics leading to more targeted policies. This has numerous positive consequences for Vietnam’s development, most directly by supporting the realisation of SDG 8