On 13/7, the General Statistics Office (Ministry of Finance) announced the preliminary results of the 2026 Economic Census. The report assessed that the economy's scale continued to expand, with the number of economic units increasing compared to the previous census. This reflects the development trend of the enterprise sector and the structural shift among economic sectors.

However, according to the statistics agency, the growth rate varied unevenly across sectors. While the enterprise sector continued to expand in both number and labor, the individual business household sector showed signs of slower growth and decreased labor, reflecting the economy's restructuring process.

The enterprise sector continued to be the economy's growth driver. By 31/12/2025, among the 1,22 million businesses nationwide from which information was collected, 859,048 were active and reported production and business results. This number increased by 2,4% compared to 2024 and was 25,5% higher than 5 years prior.

Specifically, the foreign direct investment (FDI) enterprise sector grew by 33,9% compared to 2020. The non-state enterprise sector continued to account for the largest proportion, with 827,500 businesses.

Cash transaction at a bank. Photo: Giang Huy.

The development of enterprises led to a workforce of nearly 17,6 million people, a 7,5% increase compared to 2024. The enterprise sector's total net revenue reached 45,3 quadrillion VND, up 13,1% from the previous year, with the non-state and FDI sectors continuing to be the main contributors.

Meanwhile, the country had nearly 5,3 million individual business establishments, an increase of only 1,1% compared to 2020, reflecting a shift from individual businesses to the enterprise sector. By the end of 2025, there were 17,145 active cooperatives nationwide, a 1% decrease from 2024 but still a 12% increase compared to 2020.

During the conference, Nguyen Thi Huong, Director General of the General Statistics Office, stated that the 2026 Economic Census was large-scale and conducted periodically to collect comprehensive information on production, business, administrative, non-business units, and organizations nationwide.

The survey results will reflect the scale, labor force, production and business outcomes, technology application, digital transformation, and innovation levels of economic establishments. This data will also serve to compile key statistical indicators such as gross domestic product (GDP), gross regional domestic product (GRDP), and build a database for subsequent surveys.

Phuong Dung