Viet Nam

Publications

Situation and Priorities

Social protection situation

Viet Nam has a relatively well developed social protection system. This includes social insurance (SI) system that covers a wide range of contingencies, as well as a Social Assistance (SA) system.
However, SI and social assistance (SA) policies have been independently designed and implemented through the years, making the expansion of coverage and effective financing of social protection a challenge.
As of 2023, compulsory SI covers around 38% of the working age population, while voluntary SI only covers around 4%, whilst covering a more limited set of contigencies.

Investment in Social Protection remains at around 4%, significantly below both the regional and global average . As a result, the coverage of Social Assistance, both in terms of beneficiaries (around 3 million) and monthly cash benefit level ($12 as an average) remains insufficient.

Viet Nam has made strong progress towards achieving universal health coverage, with social health insurance (SHI) covering around 92% of the population as of 20222. However, coverage remains inequitable, with the low enrolment of the near-poor, irregular contributions, weak enforcement, and low awareness of the benefits of SHI all contributing to effective coverage gaps.

Government and social partner priorities

The Government, the Party and the Social Partners in Viet Nam remain dedicated and focus on strengthening Vietnam's social protection system.

This is in line with the trend observed in recent decades, and includes, in 2023, ongoing key policy reforms such as:

  • Social Insurance Law revision
  • Employment Law revision (which covers Unemployment Insurance)
  • Development of a new Party Resolution on Social Policies
  • Creation of a Social Assistance Law

ILO Projects and Programmes

Results

The ILO has provided significant technical support, capacity building and advocacy to the Government, the Party, and the Social Partners through some of the key social protection reforms which have taken place in recent years, including:

  • Social Insurance Law revision (2014)
  • Social Health Insurance Law revision (2014)
  • Party Resolution 15 on Social Policies (2015)
  • The Road Map for Social Assistance Reform and Development (MPSARD) (2017)
  • Party Resolution 28 on Social Insurance Reform (MPSIR) (2018)
  • Increase of Retirement Age (2019)
  • Government Decree 20 on Social Assistance Reform (2021).
  • Party Resolution 42 on Social Policies (2023).

Further to these achievements, the ILO continutes to provide support to all stakeholders on all the ongoing policy reforms described above.

News and Events

Workspaces

Multimedia

ILO Experts

IMG
Kenichi Hirose
Senior Specialist, Social Protection
IMG
André Gama
Social Protection Programme Manager
IMG
Marielle Phe Goursat
Chief Technical Advisor on SHP
IMG
Nguyen Hai Dat
Programme Officer
Xuxu Li
Jr Professional Officer, Social Protection
IMG
Yuta Momose
Junior Professional Officer
IMG
Doan Thuy Quynh
Programme Assistant