In 2023, the population density of Vietnam was around 303 people per square kilometer of land area. In that year, Vietnam's total population reached approximately 100.3 million. The country is among those with the highest population density in the Asia Pacific region, ranking 11th in 2020. Population density in Vietnam In comparison, Vietnam’s population density is roughly twice as much as China and Indonesia. The average population density in the world is at 59 inhabitants per square kilometer. The largest population within the country can be found in the Red River Delta and the Mekong River Delta. The most populated city is Ho Chi Minh City with roughly nine million inhabitants. Population growth in Vietnam Vietnam’s total population was forecast to surpass 100 million by 2050. Traditionally, Vietnamese families had an average of six children, while today, the birth rate is at two children per woman. This is due to an improving economy and higher living standards. In 2020, the population growth in Vietnam reached 0.90 percent, down from about three percent in the 1960s.

In 2023, the crude death rate in Vietnam was estimated at 5.5 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants. In that year, Vietnam's population reached approximately 100.3 million.

The total population in Vietnam was estimated at 101.3 million people in 2024, according to the latest census figures and projections from Trading Economics. This dataset provides - Vietnam Population - actual values, historical data, forecast, chart, statistics, economic calendar and news.

In 2022, around 8.5 percent of the population in Vietnam was at least 65 years old, indicating an increase from the previous year. In the same year, the share of Vietnamese citizens aged between 15 and 64 years was approximately 67.4 percent.

In 2022, the urban population in Vietnam stood at approximately 37.4 million people. The six largest urban agglomerations include Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Bien Hoa, Ho Chi Minh City, and Can Tho. On the other hand, Ben Tre, Thai Binh, and Bac Giang had the lowest rates of urbanization in the country.

Urbanization in Vietnam

The rapid urbanization in Vietnam results in a disproportionate population density between its urban and rural areas. For instance, in 2022, Ho Chi Minh City recorded a population density of 4,481 inhabitants per square kilometer, nearly 15 times the country's average population density in the same year. The urban population is consistently increasing due to the country’s economic reforms and infrastructure development, as well as higher living standards. For example, the monthly income per capita in urban areas is nearly half as much as that in rural areas. Nevertheless, the poverty rate in Vietnam has been consistently diminishing each year, roughly at 4.2 percent as of 2022.

Urban infrastructure in Vietnam

Vietnam has made significant progress in developing its urban infrastructure, especially in major cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City. The expansion of highways, seaports, and airports has enhanced domestic and international connectivity, as well as greatly contributed to the country’s logistic industry. For instance, Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City are developing a metro system which is expected to be put into operation in 2024. The country has also invested in modern healthcare facilities, schools, and commercial centers. However, challenges such as traffic jams, limited public transportation services, and environmental pollution still require significant efforts to meet the growing demands of the Vietnamese urban population.

In 2023, the life expectancy at birth of Vietnamese men was estimated at 71.1 years. Meanwhile, Vietnamese women tend to live longer, around 76.5 years on average. In that year, the general life expectancy of the Vietnamese population was around 73.3 years.

In 2022, the share of the population aged between 15 and 64 years in Vietnam was approximately 67.4 percent. The large share of the population aged between 15 and 64 years indicates a period of population bonus, wherein the working population in the country was comparatively high.

VN: Population: Total data was reported at 95,540,800.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 94,569,072.000 Person for 2016. VN: Population: Total data is updated yearly, averaging 66,035,555.000 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95,540,800.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 32,670,629.000 Person in 1960. VN: Population: Total data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Total population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship. The values shown are midyear estimates.; ; (1) United Nations Population Division. World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision. (2) Census reports and other statistical publications from national statistical offices, (3) Eurostat: Demographic Statistics, (4) United Nations Statistical Division. Population and Vital Statistics Reprot (various years), (5) U.S. Census Bureau: International Database, and (6) Secretariat of the Pacific Community: Statistics and Demography Programme.; Sum; Relevance to gender indicator: disaggregating the population composition by gender will help a country in projecting its demand for social services on a gender basis.

Vietnam VN: Population: Male: Aged 15-64 data was reported at 33,180,747.000 Person in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 32,938,673.000 Person for 2016. Vietnam VN: Population: Male: Aged 15-64 data is updated yearly, averaging 18,310,991.500 Person from Dec 1960 (Median) to 2017, with 58 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 33,180,747.000 Person in 2017 and a record low of 8,848,339.000 Person in 1960. Vietnam VN: Population: Male: Aged 15-64 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Male population between the ages 15 to 64. Population is based on the de facto definition of population, which counts all residents regardless of legal status or citizenship.; ; World Bank staff estimates using the World Bank's total population and age/sex distributions of the United Nations Population Division's World Population Prospects: 2017 Revision.; Sum;

In 2023, the under-five child mortality rate in Vietnam was approximately 18.2 deaths per one thousand live births. The under-five child mortality rate in the country has been decreasing steadily within the observed timeline, except for 2020.

Population, female (% of total population) in Vietnam was reported at 51.02 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vietnam - Population, female (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

Vietnam Population Density: RR: Ha Noi data was reported at 2,555.800 Person/sq km in 2023. This records an increase from the previous number of 2,511.000 Person/sq km for 2022. Vietnam Population Density: RR: Ha Noi data is updated yearly, averaging 2,305.200 Person/sq km from Dec 2011 (Median) to 2023, with 13 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 2,555.800 Person/sq km in 2023 and a record low of 2,050.500 Person/sq km in 2011. Vietnam Population Density: RR: Ha Noi data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by General Statistics Office. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.G003: Population Density: By Provinces.

Rural population (% of total population) in Vietnam was reported at 60.52 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vietnam - Rural population - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.

Population ages 15-19, male (% of male population) in Vietnam was reported at 7.4677 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vietnam - Population ages 15-19, male (% of male population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

In 2023, the infant mortality rate in rural areas of Vietnam reached 12.8 deaths per one thousand live births, which was almost double that of urban areas. The country's average mortality rate was approximately 11.6 deaths per one thousand live births.

Population ages 20-24, female (% of female population) in Vietnam was reported at 6.2524 % in 2024, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vietnam - Population ages 20-24, female (% of female population) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on July of 2025.

IPUMS-International is an effort to inventory, preserve, harmonize, and disseminate census microdata from around the world. The project has collected the world's largest archive of publicly available census samples. The data are coded and documented consistently across countries and over time to facillitate comparative research. IPUMS-International makes these data available to qualified researchers free of charge through a web dissemination system. The IPUMS project is a collaboration of the Minnesota Population Center, National Statistical Offices, and international data archives. Major funding is provided by the U.S. National Science Foundation and the Demographic and Behavioral Sciences Branch of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Additional support is provided by the University of Minnesota Office of the Vice President for Research, the Minnesota Population Center, and Sun Microsystems.

Abstract

The 2002 Vietnam Demographic and Health Survey (VNDHS 2002) is a nationally representative sample survey of 5,665 ever-married women age 15-49 selected from 205 sample points (clusters) throughout Vietnam. It provides information on levels of fertility, family planning knowledge and use, infant and child mortality, and indicators of maternal and child health. The survey included a Community/ Health Facility Questionnaire that was implemented in each of the sample clusters.

The survey was designed to measure change in reproductive health indicators over the five years since the VNDHS 1997, especially in the 18 provinces that were targeted in the Population and Family Health Project of the Committee for Population, Family and Children. Consequently, all provinces were separated into “project” and “nonproject” groups to permit separate estimates for each. Data collection for the survey took place from 1 October to 21 December 2002.

The Vietnam Demographic and Health Survey 2002 (VNDHS 2002) was the third DHS in Vietnam, with prior surveys implemented in 1988 and 1997. The VNDHS 2002 was carried out in the framework of the activities of the Population and Family Health Project of the Committee for Population, Family and Children (previously the National Committee for Population and Family Planning).

The main objectives of the VNDHS 2002 were to collect up-to-date information on family planning, childhood mortality, and health issues such as breastfeeding practices, pregnancy care, vaccination of children, treatment of common childhood illnesses, and HIV/AIDS, as well as utilization of health and family planning services. The primary objectives of the survey were to estimate changes in family planning use in comparison with the results of the VNDHS 1997, especially on issues in the scope of the project of the Committee for Population, Family and Children.

VNDHS 2002 data confirm the pattern of rapidly declining fertility that was observed in the VNDHS 1997. It also shows a sharp decline in child mortality, as well as a modest increase in contraceptive use. Differences between project and non-project provinces are generally small.

Geographic coverage

The 2002 Vietnam Demographic and Health Survey (VNDHS 2002) is a nationally representative sample survey. The VNDHS 1997 was designed to provide separate estimates for the whole country, urban and rural areas, for 18 project provinces and the remaining nonproject provinces as well. Project provinces refer to 18 focus provinces targeted for the strengthening of their primary health care systems by the Government's Population and Family Health Project to be implemented over a period of seven years, from 1996 to 2002 (At the outset of this project there were 15 focus provinces, which became 18 by the creation of 3 new provinces from the initial set of 15). These provinces were selected according to criteria based on relatively low health and family planning status, no substantial family planning donor presence, and regional spread. These criteria resulted in the selection of the country's poorer provinces. Nine of these provinces have significant proportions of ethnic minorities among their population.

Analysis unit

• Household
• Women age 15-49

Universe

The population covered by the 2002 VNDHS is defined as the universe of all women age 15-49 in Vietnam.

Kind of data

Sample survey data

Sampling procedure

The sample for the VNDHS 2002 was based on that used in the VNDHS 1997, which in turn was a subsample of the 1996 Multi-Round Demographic Survey (MRS), a semi-annual survey of about 243,000 households undertaken regularly by GSO. The MRS sample consisted of 1,590 sample areas known as enumeration areas (EAs) spread throughout the 53 provinces/cities of Vietnam, with 30 EAs in each province. On average, an EA comprises about 150 households. For the VNDHS 1997, a subsample of 205 EAs was selected, with 26 households in each urban EA and 39 households for each rural EA. A total of 7,150 households was selected for the survey. The VNDHS 1997 was designed to provide separate estimates for the whole country, urban and rural areas, for 18 project provinces and the remaining nonproject provinces as well. Because the main objective of the VNDHS 2002 was to measure change in reproductive health indicators over the five years since the VNDHS 1997, the sample design for the VNDHS 2002 was as similar as possible to that of the VNDHS 1997.

Although it would have been ideal to have returned to the same households or at least the same sample points as were selected for the VNDHS 1997, several factors made this undesirable. Revisiting the same households would have held the sample artificially rigid over time and would not allow for newly formed households. This would have conflicted with the other major survey objective, which was to provide up-to-date, representative data for the whole of Vietnam. Revisiting the same sample points that were covered in 1997 was complicated by the fact that the country had conducted a population census in 1999, which allowed for a more representative sample frame.

In order to balance the two main objectives of measuring change and providing representative data, it was decided to select enumeration areas from the 1999 Population Census, but to cover the same communes that were sampled in the VNDHS 1997 and attempt to obtain a sample point as close as possible to that selected in 1997. Consequently, the VNDHS 2002 sample also consisted of 205 sample points and reflects the oversampling in the 20 provinces that fall in the World Bank-supported Population and Family Health Project. The sample was designed to produce about 7,000 completed household interviews and 5,600 completed interviews with ever-married women age 15-49.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face

Research instrument

As in the VNDHS 1997, three types of questionnaires were used in the 2002 survey: the Household Questionnaire, the Individual Woman's Questionnaire, and the Community/Health Facility Questionnaire. The first two questionnaires were based on the DHS Model A Questionnaire, with additions and modifications made during an ORC Macro staff visit in July 2002. The questionnaires were pretested in two clusters in Hanoi (one in a rural area and another in an urban area). After the pretest and consultation with ORC Macro, the drafts were revised for use in the main survey.

a) The Household Questionnaire was used to enumerate all usual members and visitors in selected households and to collect information on age, sex, education, marital status, and relationship to the head of household. The main purpose of the Household Questionnaire was to identify persons who were eligible for individual interview (i.e. ever-married women age 15-49). In addition, the Household Questionnaire collected information on characteristics of the household such as water source, type of toilet facilities, material used for the floor and roof, and ownership of various durable goods.

b) The Individual Questionnaire was used to collect information on ever-married women aged 15-49 in surveyed households. These women were interviewed on the following topics:
- Respondent's background characteristics (education, residential history, etc.); - Reproductive history; - Contraceptive knowledge and use;
- Antenatal and delivery care; - Infant feeding practices; - Child immunization; - Fertility preferences and attitudes about family planning; - Husband's background characteristics; - Women's work information; and - Knowledge of AIDS.

c) The Community/Health Facility Questionnaire was used to collect information on all communes in which the interviewed women lived and on services offered at the nearest health stations. The Community/Health Facility Questionnaire consisted of four sections. The first two sections collected information from community informants on some characteristics such as the major economic activities of residents, distance from people's residence to civic services and the location of the nearest sources of health care. The last two sections involved visiting the nearest commune health centers and intercommune health centers, if these centers were located within 30 kilometers from the surveyed cluster. For each visited health center, information was collected on the type of health services offered and the number of days services were offered per week; the number of assigned staff and their training; medical equipment and medicines available at the time of the visit.

Cleaning operations

The first stage of data editing was implemented by the field editors soon after each interview. Field editors and team leaders checked the completeness and consistency of all items in the questionnaires. The completed questionnaires were sent to the GSO headquarters in Hanoi by post for data processing. The editing staff of the GSO first checked the questionnaires for completeness. The data were then entered into microcomputers and edited using a software program specially developed for the DHS program, the Census and Survey Processing System, or CSPro. Data were verified on a 100 percent basis, i.e., the data were entered separately twice and the two results were compared and corrected. The data processing and editing staff of the GSO were trained and supervised for two weeks by a data processing specialist from ORC Macro. Office editing and processing activities were initiated immediately after the beginning of the fieldwork and were completed in late December 2002.

Response rate

The results of the household and individual

In 2023, the share of the population aged under 15 years in Vietnam was approximately 23.9 percent. The share of the young population aged between 0 and 14 years has been decreasing since 2019 while there were more people aged 65 years and above across the country.

Population ages 65 and above (% of total population) in Vietnam was reported at 8.6212 % in 2023, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, compiled from officially recognized sources. Vietnam - Population ages 65 and above (% of total) - actual values, historical data, forecasts and projections were sourced from the World Bank on June of 2025.