The Social Issues Statistics of Vietnam as a Developing Country

Developing countries are unclean, illiterate, survive on aid, and are poor. These are only a handful of misconceptions in developing countries. Vietnam was once all of these things as they were in devastation after the Vietnam War and considered a third-world country. Now years later Vietnam has been deemed a developing country as it has experienced a dramatic economic reform that has led to considerable poverty reduction. Vietnam’s economy has boomed due to the political and economic reform Doi Moi. Vietnam made a shift from a highly centralized planned mechanism to the socialist-oriented market economy. Between 2002 and 2018 more than 45 million people were no longer living a life of poverty (World Bank 2019). Vietnam has been improving economically and the effects, both good and bad, can be seen in population growth, mortality, fertility, and migration.

The economy started getting better around the 1990s due to the state-owned sectors, the increase of private enterprises, and the foreign direct investment. An article states, “The 2000–07 period witnessed even more impressive growth at 7.5 percent, and the country integrated strongly into the world economy with the Bilateral Trade Agreement (BTA) signed with the United States in 2000 and access to the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 2007” ( Nguyen, 2019). The reforms made by the Vietnamese government transformed the country from one of the poorest nations in the world into a lower-middle-income country.

The population growth rate is expected to decline but still, remain positive as the minorities are being bypassed in economic growth. In an article on Vietnam economy improvements, it states that “Children of rural households, poor households, and ethnic minority backgrounds are significantly more likely to be malnourished than urban residents, children of nonpoor households, and the majority Kinh population” (Thang, Popkin, 2003). There are still poverty-stricken areas in Vietnam where the economic growth has yet to reach and those areas are what will cause the decline in population growth rates. The growth rate is expected to decrease from 0.86 in the year 2019 to 0.14 in 2045 (US Census Bureau, 2019). It is a significant drop in the upcoming years but the total population is still expected to grow. In the year 2019, the total population is 97,894,734 and in 2045 it will be 110,717,427 people. The country is still growing and poverty has declined in Vietnam so there is still an increase in population.

The drop in infant mortality is caused by the growing economy and is positively affecting Vietnam, but life expectancy increase is a negative thing for the country’s economy and growth. Infant mortality is decreasing due to improving healthcare caused by a better economy. In an article on healthcare in Vietnam, it states, “Vietnam’s universal health coverage index is at 73 - higher than regional and global averages - with 87% of the population covered” (World Bank 2019). The majority of Vietnam’s population is covered with healthcare which is the reason for the decrease in infant mortality. In the year 2019 Vietnam has an IMR of 16.2 per 1,000 babies which is about in the middle range for a country. As the year’s progress in 2045, the IMR will decrease to just 7 per 1,000, this might still seem high, but it is a tremendous decline for Vietnam (US Census Bureau, 2019). The decrease in IMR is due to better nutrition, better healthcare, and more resources. Life expectancy is expected to increase in the years to come.

As of right now in the year 2019, the estimated life expectancy is 72.4 years but by the year 2045, it will be 79.7 years (US Census Bureau, 2019). If nothing is done Vietnam, “could lose up to 15 percent of their working-age populations by 2040” ( Thai News Service Group 2016). This is going to negatively affect Vietnam becuase there won’t be enough people in the workforce and Vietnam is not in the economic spot to take care of the fast-aging population. The estimated life expectancy for 2045 will create even more of an issue as the elderly will live longer and the government will have to take care of them for longer. This issue is what is driving talk about, “increase the retirement age to 58 for women and 62 for men” (Tong, 2017). This reform would keep people in the workforce for longer, but it is only a temporary fix as this will not eliminate all the issues that a fast-aging population creates.

The crude birth rate for Vietnam is expected to decline due to the government implanting the child policy which was the best way to slow the incoming population and will keep the economic growth stable. The crude birth rate for 2019 is 14.8 and it is expected to decline to 10.4 by the year 2045. The one or two-child policy in 1988 created a mindset for all Vietnamese people that a small family was the most desired. The government implemented this policy to try and stunt the fast-growing population that Vietnam was experiencing. They adapted if, from China's one-child policy, the government realized that only one child was not realistic and decided to compromise with one to two (GoodKind 1995). Vietnam implemented this policy and enforced it by using posters and television promotions. The government is creating media campaigns and heavily pushing health services to stress the importance of the one to two-child policy. The country is also experiencing such great economic growth that the government doesn’t want to chance a larger population ruining that. Implementing this policy was the best thing to have happened to Vietnam because it effectively controlled the population without harm being done.

Migration plays a big role in the improving economy as many migrate for work. Internal migration is basic and evident in every low-middle income country, and most prominent in countries undergoing rapid growth and structural change. Urban employment grew from about one-quarter to almost one-third in Vietnam within the years 2005 and 2013. According to an article, “More than half of migrants moved for employment purposes. Marriage is the second reason, accounting for 21%, followed by study (13%) and all other purposes (11%)” (Nguyen et al., 2011). There was a lot of in-migration within Vietnam as lots of cities were flourishing such as, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. The net number of migrants goes from -25,000 in 2019 to -4,000 in 2045 with a dramatic decline (United States Census Bureau 2018). There are still more people emigrating than immigrating but the number has decreased drastically due to the improvements Vietnam has made for their country. People want to stay and migrate within Vietnam due to more job opportunities with the uprising economy.