Vietnam is still in the golden population structure period.

According to the General Statistics Office, Ministry of Finance, Vietnam is still in the "golden population" period.

Statistics for the first quarter of 2025 show that the country's labor force aged 15 and over is estimated at 52.9 million people, an increase of 532 thousand people over the same period last year; the labor force participation rate is 68.2%, down 0.8 percentage points over the previous quarter and down 0.3 percentage points over the same period last year.

The number of employed people in the first quarter of 2025 is estimated at 51.9 million, down 234,000 people compared to the previous quarter and up 532,100 people compared to the same period last year. Of which, the urban area is 20 million people, down 115,900 people compared to the previous quarter and up 433,600 people compared to the same period last year; the rural area is 31.9 million people, down 118,100 people and up 98,500 people.

The National Statistical Office stated that the employed labor force tends to develop normally as in the pre-Covid-19 period, but the proportion of informally employed labor force still accounts for a large proportion. The proportion of informally employed labor force in the first quarter of 2025 was 64.3%, up 0.7 percentage points from the previous quarter and down 0.5 percentage points from the same period last year.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Minh, Deputy Head of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics, commented: “Vietnam is still in the golden population structure period with a large and annually increasing working-age population of 15 years and older. Although there are some positive points in the labor market regarding the labor force, the number of employed workers as well as workers’ income, the labor market in the first quarter still faces many challenges.”

4% of potential workforce remains untapped

According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam's underutilized labor force typically hovers around 4%. This rate was 3.9% in the first quarter of 2025. The majority of underutilized labor force are people aged 15 to 34 (46.8%).

This shows that Vietnam still has a large part of its potential labor force that has not been exploited, especially the young labor force.

Meanwhile, the number of workers doing self-production and self-consumption work in the first quarter of 2025 was 3.8 million people, an increase of 168.2 thousand people compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 117.4 thousand people compared to the same period last year.

According to the General Statistics Office, in the context of the labor market increasingly placing high demands on skills and abilities, as well as the economy showing signs of recession and instability, the opportunity for this group of workers to find good jobs is very difficult.

At the press conference, the important indicator mentioned was the rate of trained workers with degrees and certificates in the first quarter of 2025 was 28.8%, an increase of 0.2 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and an increase of 1 percentage point compared to the same period last year.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Minh, Deputy Head of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics, said: “The labor market continues to recover. However, the quality of the labor force is still limited and cannot meet the needs of the modern and flexible labor market. About 70% of workers do not have professional qualifications. In the context of our high expectations for an 8% economic growth rate and innovation, the number of workers needs to be improved in both quality and quantity.”

Mr. Nguyen Huy Minh also emphasized the need to continue improving the quality of workers to meet social needs as well as the set economic growth goals.

Mr. Nguyen Huy Minh said that when the Ministry of Education and Training takes over the function of State management of vocational education, the division of training at all levels will be implemented more clearly from high school to vocational training and university training. And in the near future, these educational institutions will need to be promoted and have a reasonable training structure for the labor market.

Source: https://baoninhthuan.com.vn/news/152546p1c30/nang-cao-trinh-do-ky-nang-nghe-nghiep-cho-nguoi-lao-dong.htm