Investors opened about 280,000 new accounts in the final month of 2025, lifting the full-year total to a record 2.5 million, data from the Vietnam Securities Depository and Clearing Corporation (VSD) revealed.

This marked the strongest annual account growth in the history of Vietnam’s stock market.

By year-end, the market recorded nearly 11.9 million accounts, equivalent to 11.6% of the national population, exceeding the government’s targets of nine million accounts by 2025 and 11 million by 2030 under the national stock market development strategy.

Securities account activity surged as the VN-Index extended its rally for a third consecutive year and delivered its strongest performance since 2017, rising 40.87%.

Market movements outpaced forecasts from securities firms, with the index briefly falling below 1,100 points before rebounding to a record 1,805. The surge placed the VN-Index among the world’s top 10 best-performing stock indices and the top three in Asia.

Individual investors continued to dominate the market, holding 99.4% of total accounts, while foreign investors made up less than 0.5%. Leaders of the State Securities Commission of Vietnam have said the sector aims to rebalance the investor base by expanding domestic and foreign institutional participation and by guiding new retail investors away from “playing stocks” toward long-term investing.

Under a plan to restructure the investor base and develop the fund management industry approved in mid-September 2025, the Ministry of Finance targets 200,000 foreign investor accounts by 2030, four times the current level, with annual growth of 15% expected thereafter.

The ministry also plans to improve the quality of domestic retail investors by promoting investment through funds to boost efficiency, stability and market depth.

Over the next five years, individual investors are expected to account for about 70% of trading value, with the remaining 30% coming from domestic institutions and foreign investors.