Vietnam’s demographic dividend has reached its peak and the population is getting older progressively.

A loving couple in Hoi An share a moment of joice and happiness
together. Illustrative photo by Destinations Magazine.

Twenty percent of Vietnamese population will be over 60 years old by 2038, VnExpress quoted Director General of the General Department of Population and Family Planning under the Ministry of Health Nguyen Doan Tu as saying.

Tu cited recent statistics as showing that the total population of Vietnam reached 96.2 million in 2019, with an annual growth rate of 1.14% over the past 10 years, which means the population increases by around one million yearly.

 Under the 2011-2020 Strategy on Population and Reproductive Health, the population growth rate should be kept at around 1% by 2020, Tu said.

 However, Vietnam’s demographic dividend has reached its peak and the population is getting older progressively. If 9.9% of Vietnamese population is 60 years old or over in 2011, in 2018, the percentage jumped to 11.95%. 

 With this pace, it is forecast that by 2049, the senior population will make up 25% of the total, in other words, one elder out of four people.

 Vietnam is one of the fastest aging countries in the world. While in developed countries, the transition from demographic dividend to aging population lasts decades to centuries like France where it took 115 years, Australia, 73 years and China, 26 years, in the the case of Vietnam it took 15 years.

 Aging population in Vietnam is characterized by the fact that elderly women outnumber elderly men, rising widowhood and the increasing number of lonely elders. While life expectancy in the country is high, Vietnamese people on average only live 64 years with good health. Around 96% of the Vietnamese elderly people acquire multiple diseases.

 Tu also pointed out that alongside aging population, Vietnam is experiencing demographic dividend with the proportion of economically active population doubling the dependent one.

 Since 1989 onward, the number of people under 15 years old has reduced from 39% to 24%, and the number of people in working age from 15 to 64 years old increased from 56% to 68%.