On the morning of January 6, 2022, the General Statistics Office (GSO) held a press conference on the situation of labor and employment in the fourth quarter and 2021 and the Vietnam Human Development Index (HDI) for the 2016-2020 period. Mr. Nguyen Trung Tien, Deputy General Director of GSO chaired the press conference. Attending were representatives of GSO’s units; representatives of the media. The press conference is connected online at the bridge points of the Statistical Departments of the provinces and centrally-run cities.
At the press conference, Mr. Pham Hoai Nam, Director General of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics reports an overview of the labor and employment situation in the fourth quarter and 2021. Next, Ms. Nguyen Thi Thanh Mai, Deputy Director of the Department of Population and Labor Statistics reports Vietnam Human Development Index for the period 2016-2020.
According to the report on labor and employment, in the fourth quarter of 2021, more than 24.7 million people aged 15 and older lost their jobs, had to take time off/rotary leave, reduced working hours, and reduced incomes due to the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The labor force aged 15 and over in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 50.7 million people, an increase of 1.7 million people compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 1.4 million people compared to the same period last year. In general, in 2021, the labor force aged 15 and over in 2021 will be 50.5 million people, down 791.6 thousand people compared to the previous year.
The labor force participation rate in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 67.7%, 2.6 percentage points lower than the same period last year but 2.1 percentage points higher than the previous quarter. In general, in 2021, the labor force participation rate in 2021 is 67.7%, down 1.9 percentage points from the previous year.
The number of employed workers aged 15 and over in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 49.07 million people, 1.79 million lower than in the same period last year, but an increase of 1.82 million people compared to the previous quarter. In 2021, the number of employed workers aged 15 and over is 49 million, a decrease of 1 million people compared to 2020. In which, the decrease is mainly in rural areas and in men. The number of employed laborers in rural areas was 31.2 million people, a decrease of 1.5 million people and in men it was 26.2 million people, a decrease of 729.5 thousand people compared to the previous year.
The proportion of workers with informal employment[1] in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 55.1%, up 0.6 percentage points from the previous quarter and down 0.9 percentage points over the same period last year. In 2021, the rate of workers in informal employment will be 56.2%, equivalent to the previous year. However, in rural areas and among women, this percentage tends to increase by 1.0 percentage point and 0.2 percentage point respectively over the previous year.
The unemployment rate of working age workers in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 3.56%, down 0.42 percentage points from the previous quarter and up 0.93 percentage points over the same period last year. In general, in 2021, the unemployment rate of working age is 3.22%, an increase of 0.54 percentage points compared to the previous year. In which, the unemployment rate in urban areas is 4.42%, 1.94 percentage points higher than in rural areas.
The underemployment rate of aged workers in the fourth quarter of 2021 was 3.37%, down 1.09 percentage points compared to the previous quarter and up 1.55 percentage points over the same period last year. In 2021, the underemployment rate of working-age workers is 3.10%, an increase of 0.71 percentage points over the previous year.
The average monthly income of employees in the fourth quarter of 2021 is 5.3 million VND, an increase of 139 thousand VND compared to the previous quarter and a decrease of 624 thousand VND compared to the same period last year. In 2021, the average monthly income of employees is 5.7 million VND, down 32 thousand VND compared to 2020.
Also at the press conference, GSO announced the Vietnam Human Development Index (HDI) for the period 2016-2020. This is the result of the coordination between the GSO with ministries, branches and localities and the technical support of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). The report has collected input information to compile the HDI aggregate indicators of the whole country and 63 provinces and centrally-run cities for the years 2016-2020. The Vietnam Human Development Index report for the period 2016-2020 shows that:
(1) During the 2016-2020 period, the HDI of the whole country and most of the 63 provinces and centrally-run cities have increased over the years. The HDI of the whole country increased from 0.682 in 2016 to 0.706 in 2020.
(2) With different levels of contribution, HDI growth in the 2016-2020 period of the whole country and 63 localities has the contribution of all 3 component indexes because these indicators also achieved the same growth rate and speed increase.
(3) In 2020, although no locality with HDI was classified in Group 1, the group achieved a very high level; but there are no localities in Group 4, the lowest group according to UNDP’s classification criteria. All localities belong to Group 3, Group with moderate HDI and Group 2, Group with high HDI. Notably, the High Reach group has increased from 13 localities in 2016 to 24 localities in 2020.
(4) Many localities have low HDI, but the growth rate is faster than localities with high HDI, the gap between HDI regions narrows gradually.
The HDI report also raised a number of concerns about Vietnam’s human development.
At the end of the press conference, the GSO representative spent time answering questions from reporters and delegates about issues related to the employment situation in the fourth quarter, 2021 and the Vietnam Human Development Index period 2016-2020.
[1] In the fourth quarter of 2021, the proportion of informal workers including agriculture was 67.8%, down 0.3 percentage points from the previous quarter and up 0.1 percentage points from the same period last year.