VietNamNet Bridge – By April 1 2009, Vietnam had a population of over 85.847 million, with per capita living space of 16 sq.m.

This is the result of the census conducted on April 1 2009, released by the Central Steering Board for Census and Housing Survey on July 21.

According to the census, by April 1 2009 Vietnam had 85,846,997 people, including 49.4 percent of men and 50.6 percent of women.

After a decade (since the census in April 1999), the population increased by 9.523 million people, or 952,000 people annually.

The census showed a constant decrease in the birthrate in the country over the past ten year, confirming the results from annual surveys on the change in population and family planning conducted by the General Statistic Office.

It also showed improvement in living standards. The average living space of an individual is 16.7m2. People in the urban areas have the larger living space of 19.2m2, 1.5 times higher than those living in rural areas.

There were over 25.4 million people living in the urban, accounting for 29.6 percent, and 60.4 million people in the countryside or 70.4 percent. In the period of 1999-2009, the urban population grew 3.4 percent annually while it was 0.4 percent for the countryside.

HCM City (over 7.1 million people), Hanoi (6.452 million) and Thanh Hoa (3.4 million) are three locations where the population exceeds 3 million.

Five provinces that have population of less than 500,000 are Bac Kan, Dien Bien, Kon Tum and Dak Nong.

Of 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam, Kinh people account for 85.7 percent, with 73.59 million people while Brau ethnic group has only 397 people and O Du with 376 people.

According to the census, up to 94 percent of the people of 15 years old upwards could read and write. This ratio is highest in Hanoi, Hai Phong and HCM City and lowest in Lai Chau.

There were around 4 million people of 5 years old upwards who have never gone to school, accounting for 5 percent of the people at this age.

Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung said the results of this census truly reflect the 10-year socio-economic development of the country.

“Vietnam now has a golden population for growth and development, which opens up great potential for the country to enjoy the stable development period,” he said.

“However, the golden population also poses some challenges for the future, requiring comprehensive solutions on education and training, jobs creation, health care, social welfare issued by the State,” Hung added.

PV