Average earnings of workers rise by nearly 330,000 dong to about 9 million dong per month

In Q1-2026, about 1.6 million youths were not employed and not participating in education or training, up 173 thousand from the previous quarter. The rate was higher in rural areas than in urban areas.

Labor market changes in Q1-2026

According to the General Statistics Office (GSO), the labor market in Q1-2026 showed positive changes across size, structure, quality and workers’ income.

• Labor force (aged 15+): 53.6 million, down 232 thousand quarter-on-quarter but up 687 thousand year-on-year.
• Employed workers: 52.5 million, down 233 thousand quarter-on-quarter but up 656 thousand year-on-year.

A GSO official said the quarterly decrease “mostly reflects the timing of the Lunar New Year holiday,” which caused some workers to temporarily exit the market. “However, in the long run, the size of the labor force continues to expand.”

Urban and rural employment

Urban employed workers experienced faster fluctuations than rural workers, reflecting higher sensitivity to short-term economic changes.

• Urban employed workers: 20.6 million, down 122.2 thousand quarter-on-quarter, but up 587.5 thousand year-on-year.
• Rural employed workers: 31.9 million, down 111.2 thousand quarter-on-quarter, but up 69.3 thousand year-on-year.

Employment structure and sector performance

In terms of structure, the services sector remained the leading contributor at about 41%, followed by industry and construction at 33.7%, and agriculture–forestry–fishery at 25.3%. The shift of labor from agriculture to industry and services continued.

At the sector level, employment growth was strongest in areas linked to infrastructure investment:

• Construction: added about 426 thousand jobs (up 49.7%).
• Transport and storage: added 202 thousand jobs (up 9.3%).

Meanwhile, labor-intensive sectors such as textiles, footwear and wood processing recorded declines.

Digital economy jobs

The GSO highlighted the impact of digital transformation and artificial intelligence on employment in digital economy sectors. Workers in these sectors rose from about 1.3 million in 2024 to about 1.5 million in Q1-2026.

Unemployment, youth joblessness and underemployment

The unemployment rate for the working-age population remained at 2.21%. Youth unemployment (ages 15–24) declined slightly to 8.86%, with urban youth unemployment at 10.7% and rural youth unemployment at 7.8%.

In Q1, nearly 1.6 million youths were unemployed and not participating in education or training, accounting for 11.4% of all youths. This was up about 173 thousand from the previous quarter and up more than 212 thousand from the same period last year.

By gender, female unemployment was 12.8% and male unemployment was 10%.

The rate of underemployment among the working-age population stood at 1.68% quarter-on-quarter, with urban underemployment at 1.27% and rural underemployment at 1.95%. In absolute terms, underemployed people of working age numbered about 787 thousand, up 2.7 thousand from the previous quarter and down 10.3 thousand from the same period last year.

Income trends and distribution

Average wage rose to 9 million VND per month, up 329 thousand from the previous quarter and up 706 thousand from the same period last year. Average income for male workers was 10.1 million VND, while female workers earned 7.7 million VND. Urban workers earned 10.7 million VND and rural workers 7.9 million VND.

Average income of wage earners was 10 million VND per month, up 622 thousand year-on-year. Male wage earners earned 10.5 million VND and female wage earners 9.5 million VND. Urban wage earners earned 11.2 million VND and rural wage earners 9.1 million VND.

The GSO said: “Rising worker incomes, together with controlled inflation, contribute to improved real income and living standards.”

Why perceived living standards may not improve

The acting head of the Population and Labor Statistics Department said that although average income rose, people’s perceived living standards did not improve significantly due to three main reasons: (i) income growth is not uniform across groups and urban–rural areas, with urban income rising about 5.7% versus 7.9% in rural areas; (ii) the informal sector remains large (about 62.2% of workers); and (iii) rising living costs for essentials such as food, housing and utilities erode real gains.