Of the figure, 38,816 were female, reported the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MOLISA).

During the January-September period, Japan was the biggest recipient of Vietnamese guest workers (55,690 workers), followed by Chinese Taipei (44,166 workers), South Korea (2,449 workers) and China (1,361 workers).

Other destinations employing Vietnamese guest workers included Hungary (1,148 workers), Singapore (1,015 workers), Romania (705 workers), Poland (651 workers) and Saudi Arabia (205 workers). 

Viet Nam ranks first among 15 countries sending interns to Japan, in terms of both the number of interns entering the country every year and the number of interns currently working in Japan.

The number of Vietnamese interns to Japan has increased sharply, from 10,200 in 2013 to 82,700 in 2019 (before the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic) an eight-fold increase. The figures were estimated at around 68,000 in 2022.

In recent years, the number of Vietnamese workers to Japan has accounted for more than 50 percent of the number of workers sent overseas to work.

As of December 2022, around 345,000 Vietnamese workers are living and working in Japan. 

Expanding new markets for labor export

Viet Nam is speeding up negotiations with Hungary in a bid to sign an agreement on sending and receiving Vietnamese laborers in the European country–an emerging market drawing great interest from laborers.

The country has sent workers to Hungary since 2018. So far, more than 2,700 Vietnamese laborers have been employed by the market, with the number of workers increasing year on year, reaching 1,148 in the first nine months of 2023.

The Department of Overseas Labor under the MOLISA has licensed 25 businesses to recruit and send Vietnamese laborers to Hungary. Vietnamese laborers have engaged in many sectors in Hungary, including construction, manufacturing-processing, wood processing, agriculture and hotel and restaurant services.

The department is exploring the possibility of signing an agreement or a memorandum of understanding with authorized agencies of Hungary on labor cooperation, while directing businesses engaging in labor export to Hungary to strictly follow legal regulations in the field, and provide full information to laborers on the jobs, rights and allowances as well as their responsibility.