Vietnam’s latest census figures put the country’s population at nearly 85.789 million as of April this year, up 12.45 per cent compared to 1999, the National Population and Housing Census 2009 shows.
An online conference to release preliminary results of the census took place on August 13 in Hanoi, chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung.
Vietnam now ranks 13th in the world and 3rd among ASEAN countries, the conference noted.
The 2009 census, which cost an estimated US$33 million, found that during the last ten years, the average population growth rate of Vietnam was 1.2 per cent per year, down 0.5 per cent against the previous ten years.
Vietnam now has more than 7,200 people over 100 years of age, the census indicates.
The market economy has greatly affected the country’s population movement over the last ten years, said Do Thuc vice head of the General Statistics Office at the online conference.
Vietnam’s population is allocated unevenly with 43 per cent living in the Red River delta and Mekong Delta regions, while only 19 per cent are living in the midland and mountainous areas of the north and central highland regions.
An estimated 29.6 per cent of the population lives in urban areas, which are increasing 3.4 per cent per year, while rural areas are increasing by only 0.4 per cent per annum.
Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi rank in first and second place as the country’s most populous cities with 7.1 million and 6.5 million people, respectively.
The census also indicates that the male to female ratio is now 98.1:100, compared to the ratio of 96.7:100 ten years ago.
The 2009 census was carried out nationwide April 1-15 this year under the support and surveillance of more than 30 experts from the United Nations. (Local sources)
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