"Ho Chi Minh City is still in the golden population period with 70.7% of the population at working age, but it is no longer a 'young city' and is facing a rapid aging rate," Pham Chanh Trung, Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Population and Family Planning Sub-Department, said at the launch of the Communication Campaign integrated with population quality improvement services in low birth rate areas in 2025, on 25/9.
After the merger, Ho Chi Minh City became the largest megacity in the country, with 168 wards, communes, and special zones, and over 14 million people. The city is among the 13 localities with the lowest birth rates and is entering the aging phase with 1.47 million elderly people (accounting for 10.49% of the population). The aging index reached 57.05, meaning for every 100 children under 15, there are 57 elderly people. In 2024, the average life expectancy of Ho Chi Minh City residents was 76.2, higher than the national average (74.7 years).
In recent years, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly) has always had the lowest birth rate in the country, much lower than the replacement fertility rate that Vietnam is maintaining (2-2.1 children/mother). This prolonged situation creates significant challenges for the locality's socio-economic development. Now, after the merger of Binh Duong and Ba Ria - Vung Tau, which are within the Southeast region, the "lowest birth rate area" in the country, the birth rate in Ho Chi Minh City has not yet improved.
According to Mr. Trung, the prolonged low birth rate gradually reduces the proportion of young people and the labor force, while the number of elderly people increases, accelerating the aging process. The city faces the requirement of improving population quality and needs to promote communication and support couples in pre-marital health checkups, screening, and treatment of diseases before, during, and after birth, while continuing to improve the elderly care system.
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Newborns at a maternity hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo provided by the hospital |
Newborns at a maternity hospital in Ho Chi Minh City. Photo provided by the hospital
According to Bui Chi Tinh, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, the total fertility rate of 1.43 children is a warning sign, requiring the health sector to have immediate adaptive solutions. From 15/9 to 30/10, the health sector coordinated to implement a campaign to encourage having two children, expand pre-marital health checkups, pre- and postnatal screening, and strengthen elderly healthcare to adapt to population aging.
In August, Ho Chi Minh City increased the support level for women who have two children before the age of 35 from 3 million VND to 5 million VND, along with pre- and postnatal screening for mothers and babies in poor and near-poor households. This support policy has been applied by the city since the end of 2024. To date, about 9,100 women have received the 3 million VND support under Resolution 40 and 8,500 have received 5 million VND under Resolution 32 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council.
Le Phuong
