Vietnam's cooperatives: More than 36,000 cooperatives, contributing about 4.8% of GDP by end-2025

The cooperative sector, cooperative unions and collectives are increasingly reaffirming their role in boosting economic efficiency for member households, while directly contributing about 4.8% of GDP nationwide and strengthening their position in the national economy.

Growth in cooperatives and unions in 2025

Speaking at the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, Vice Chairman Đinh Hồng Thái said that in 2025, about 2,000 new cooperatives and 10 cooperative unions were established nationwide.

By the end of 2025, the country had about 36,270 cooperatives, up 5.8%; 153 cooperative unions, up 7.0%; and 81,781 collectives, up 5.1% compared with 2024.

Improving operating efficiency and member incomes

The rate of effective operation among cooperatives continued to improve, with about 65–70% of operating cooperatives classified as good or fairly good, exceeding the targets set for 2021–2025.

Revenue per cooperative averaged about 3,185 million VND per year, up 7.5% from the previous year. Average profit per cooperative was 255 million VND per year, up 6.3%.

On resources, total cooperative membership reached about 7.1 million people, including 2.7 million regular workers. Average income of regular workers in cooperatives stood at about 57 million VND per person per year, up 5–6% compared with 2024.

Capacity building and union activity

Management training improved markedly, with about 31% of cooperatives’ members holding college or university degrees, exceeding the target. The share of cadres with primary or secondary qualifications accounted for about 69%.

Cooperative unions maintained stable growth in both quantity and quality, with an activity rate above 91%. The unions increasingly act as “locomotors” linking member cooperatives, building raw material zones, organizing large-scale product supply, and improving competitiveness in the market.

Sector structure: agriculture leads, non-agriculture grows more slowly

Agriculture remains the leading field of the collective economy, accounting for about 66% of all cooperatives nationwide—equivalent to 23,954 cooperatives by the end of 2025. Agricultural cooperatives are increasingly involved in restructuring the sector and building new rural areas, including value-chain linkage models, high-tech applications, and production meeting safe standards. Many cooperatives have linked with enterprises to secure output, including direct exporting.

Non-agricultural cooperatives—such as those in industry and handicrafts, construction, and the environment—operate relatively stably but grow slowly. Limited production scale, outdated technology and constrained markets have kept value-added from rising. In trade and services, some cooperatives have adapted by combining traditional sales with online and e-commerce platforms, but small scale and weak branding remain major barriers.

Credit funds and support for cooperative development

In the financial sector, more than 1,200 People’s Credit Funds continue to play an important role in providing credit in rural areas. Despite fluctuations in interest rates, the funds have maintained stable operations, supporting production and helping curb illegal lending.

In 2025, the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance intensified training with nearly 200 courses for more than 10,000 officials and members. Province-level organizations held more than 300 classes for nearly 15,000 trainees.

The Cooperative Development Support Funds continued to act as a “backer.” Central fund loans were expected to top 890 billion VND, supporting about 100 projects. Local funds disbursed about 3,200 billion VND, supporting hundreds of cooperatives and tens of thousands of members. In addition, about 500 cooperatives were assisted in applying science and technology and in digital transformation with funding of 150 billion VND.

Key gaps to address

Cao Xuan Thu Van, Secretary of the Party Committee and Chair of the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance, said that many cooperatives remain small-scale, with limited capital and insufficient collateral, making access to credit difficult. Management capacity of leaders is still weak, technology is outdated, and there is a shortage of high-quality human resources, reducing operational efficiency.

Other challenges include limited branding, uneven product quality, and constrained marketing and e-commerce adoption. Logistics costs are high, lowering competitiveness. The share of cooperative goods in modern distribution channels remains very low, while direct export capability is limited. Access to policy support is also hindered by complex procedures, difficult conditions and limited resources.

Plans for 2026 and policy requests

In 2026, the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance will mobilize resources to implement the Cooperative Economy Development Program for 2026–2030. Each locality aims to establish 20–30 new cooperatives, 2 cooperative unions and 100 collectives, while strengthening weak units. Training will be intensified to improve management capacity, production skills and job creation, especially in rural and mountainous areas.

Trade promotion will continue through conferences, fairs, supply-demand connections and bringing products onto digital platforms. Localities will support access to funds from the Cooperative Development Support Fund and credit institutions. Priority will also be given to applying science and technology, digital transformation, branding, origin tracing and improving governance capacity.

Ms Cao Xuan Thu Van requested the National Assembly to amend the 2023 Cooperative Law soon and asked the Government to issue full guidance to ensure consistency and feasibility. Proposals to improve the Vietnam Cooperative Alliance system in the new period will also be advanced.

She further called on ministries and sectors to accelerate research and technology transfer to the cooperative sector, focusing on deep processing, preservation, circular agriculture and digital transformation. Additional capital for the Cooperative Development Support Fund is needed, alongside flexible credit packages tailored to the sector’s characteristics—especially for agricultural cooperatives and high-tech production models for sustainable development.