8 Billion Lives
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Where you could be born / Asia / South-Eastern Asia

Born in Vietnam

About 1 in 95 people born in 2023 started life in Vietnam. A boy can expect to live 70 years and a girl 79, up from 44 and 53 in 1950. Fewer than half of people live in cities, and nearly everyone has basic drinking water.

1 in 95
odds of being born here
1.4 million births · Ranked 19th of 230
70 / 79
years of life, boys / girls
Was 44 / 53 in 1950
$6,313
income per person a year
2021 dollars · Ranked 107th of 203 · extrapolated
38%
live in a city
Most live in villages

Life and health

Life lasts about 26 years longer than in 1950. Child deaths fell from 161 in every 1,000 births to 20.

How long a life lasts

GirlsBoys

0255075100195019852023

Years a baby born that year could expect to live.

Children who die before age 5
050100150200195019852023

In every 1,000 births.

Life expectancy at birth69.9 years for boys, 79.3 for girlsUN WPP 2024
Children who die before age 520.2 in every 1,000 birthsUN WPP 2024
Deaths a year660,000UN WPP 2024
Doctors per 1,000 people1.1World Bank WDI
Children immunized against measles82%World Bank WDI
Adults living with HIV0.4%World Bank WDI
New tuberculosis cases a year185 per 100,000 peopleWorld Bank WDI
Malaria cases a year0 per 1,000 people at riskWorld Bank WDI

Family

Women had 5.2 children on average in 1950. Now it is 1.9, below the 2.1 it takes to keep a population steady.

Children per woman
02468195019852023

Average over a lifetime.

Children per woman1.91UN WPP 2024
Average age of mothers at birth27.2 yearsUN WPP 2024

Money and work

If every 100 coins of income were shared out, the richest fifth would hold 43 and the poorest fifth 7.

Who gets the income
Share of all income by fifth of the population, 2022
7%Poorest fifth
12%Second
16%Middle
22%Fourth
43%Richest fifth
Income per personabout $6,313 a year (2021 dollars, adjusted for prices)World Bank PIP, scaled between survey years Extrapolated
Share of income going to the richest fifth / poorest fifth43% / 7% (2022)World Bank PIP
Unemployment1.6% of the workforce (2023)World Bank WDI
Price rises3.3% a year (2023)World Bank WDI
Growth in output per person4.3% (2023)World Bank WDI
Jobs in farming27% of jobsWorld Bank WDI
Self-employed53% of jobs (2025)World Bank WDI
Secondary school enrolment93% (can pass 100 when older students are counted)World Bank WDI

Daily life

The largest city is Ho Chi Minh City, with 14.0 million people.

38%
live in cities
100%
have electricity at home
98%
have basic drinking water
Largest cities
People living there
Ho Chi Minh City14.0 million
Hanoi8.1 million
Haiphong2.6 million
Cần Thơ1.5 million
Huế1.4 million
Languages
Share of people who can use each
Vietnamese86%
Chinese1%
Vietnamese is official.

Cities and regions

Every state, province and large city with a page.

Largest regions

Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)19.5 million
Hanoi13.7 million
Hai Phong3.3 million
Can Tho City3.1 million
Da Nang City2.5 million
Dong Nai2.1 million
An Giang2.1 million
Thừa Thiên Huế Province1.7 million
Thanh Hóa Province1.5 million
Bac Ninh1.4 million

Sourced: GeoNames Population of each state, province or region.

Large cities

Sourced: GeoNames Cities with a page: a million people or more.

All 34 regions
  • Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC)19.5 million
  • Hanoi13.7 million
  • Hai Phong3.3 million
  • Can Tho City3.1 million
  • Da Nang City2.5 million
  • Dong Nai2.1 million
  • An Giang2.1 million
  • Thừa Thiên Huế Province1.7 million
  • Thanh Hóa Province1.5 million
  • Bac Ninh1.4 million
  • Lam Dong1.3 million
  • Khanh Hoa1.2 million
  • Quảng Ninh1.2 million
  • Nghệ An Province1.2 million
  • Dong Thap1.1 million
  • Gia Lai1.1 million
  • Thai Nguyen1.0 million
  • Tay Ninh946,518
  • Phu Tho926,726
  • Dak Lak924,332
  • Ninh Binh904,004
  • Ca Mau886,571
  • Quang Ngai710,131
  • Vinh Long587,452
  • Quang Tri537,544
  • Hà Tĩnh Province472,452
  • Hưng Yên Province351,745
  • Lao Cai332,308
  • Sơn La Province297,829
  • Tuyen Quang294,966
  • Lạng Sơn Province244,630
  • Cao Bằng Province111,707
  • Điện Biên Province105,122
  • Lai Châu Province42,973

People on the move

About 3.7% as many people born here live abroad as live here. The most common destinations are United States, Japan, Australia.

Where people born here live abroad
By country of residence, 2024
United States1,434,631
Japan589,874
Australia294,435
Residents born abroad0.3% (2024)World Bank WDI
People born here who live abroadequal to 3.7% of the people who live hereUN DESA migrant stock
Where they go mostUnited States (1.4 million), Japan (589,874), Australia (294,435)UN DESA migrant stock
Money sent home from abroadabout $2.3 billion a year (2004)World Bank WDI

Safety nets

41% of older people receive a pension. Help for someone who loses a job reaches 59%.

41%
of older people receive a pension (2019)
59%
of unemployed people receive a benefit (2021)

Events in the data

The game draws real events from these records, so a life lived here can meet them.

Reported COVID-19 deaths, 2020 to 202443,206Our World in Data, from WHO
Hurricane-strength storms since 198048NOAA IBTrACS

Now live it.

Born in Vietnam, to a family drawn from these numbers. Every life replays exactly from its seed.

Be born in Vietnam

Elsewhere in Asia

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How to read the sources. Every figure is sourced to a named dataset, shown beside it. A figure marked "Extrapolated" is estimated by a model because no survey covers the year. UN figures are for 2023, the latest year of UN estimates; other figures are the latest year their dataset has. Rank 1 is the highest figure among 230 countries and territories. All sources and licences