Vietnam News: Population & Religions of 54 Ethnic Groups

Vietnam Population ranks 15th on the world demographic map. According to the News of General Statistic Office (GSO), Vietnam population is 99,694,037 as of Tuesday, March 14, 2023. The country has the third largest population in Southeast Asia (after Indonesia, and the Philippines) and the thirteenth largest one in the world. As of the beginning of 2023, 69.3 percent of the total Vietnam population is at the age of between 15 and 64 years old. People below 15 and above 65 years old account for 25.2 and 5.5 percent of the population, respectively.

The dependency ratio of Vietnam population is currently 44.4 percent, which means fewer than half of the population is dependent on others (the labor force). It also indicates that there is very little strain on Vietnam's productive population.

Vietnam population size: according to the most recent data of the United Nations, Vietnam population is 99,694,037 as of Tuesday, March 14, 2023. Regardless of the quite small acreage (310,070 square kilometers), Vietnam is among the nations with the highest population densities and is the fifteenth most populous nation in the world. 32.5 years old is the average age in Vietnam. However, Vietnam population is aging fast and Vietnamese people’s life expectancy is 75.8 years for both sexes.

Vietnam is one of the top three nations with regard to birth sex/gender ratio imbalance. According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Vietnam's imbalance rate in 2021 was 111.6 boys for 100 girls, trailing only China and India, the world's two most populous nations.

The imbalance between Vietnam female population and male has existed since 2006 and is believed to be the result of biased gender selection. Vietnam is a country where many families prefer to have a son to handle ancestor worship and inherit the family home when their parents pass away. Man is expected to be the breadwinner of the whole family. It is also the son who is expected to take care of the parents when they get old. Therefore, most families expect at least one son. Many families have taken use of technological advancements to choose the gender of their offspring.

Populous as the whole country might seem, there are disparities in Vietnam population's distribution around the nation. Historically, due to advantageous conditions for significant economic pursuits like agriculture and fishing, the Red River and Mekong River Deltas have the highest populations. Heavy urbanization after the Doi Moi economic reform in the 1980s further cemented these areas as the most populous urban hubs in Vietnam.

What Are the Main Religions in Vietnam? Regarding Vietnamese religions, Buddhism, Roman Catholicism and Shristian are the three main religions with the biggest proportion among Vietnam population as of 2019, accounting for around 11 percent of those who are identified as religious. Despite the fact that the majority of Vietnamese claimed to be atheists, a sizable proportion practice traditional beliefs and folk religions that are historically inspired by Confucianism, Taoism, and Caodaism. Beside, Vietnam has also small percentage of people practicing Island, and Hinduism.

How many Ethnic Groups are there in Vietnam? There are 54 ethnic groups in Vietnam recognized by the Vietnamese government. Each ethnicity has their own language, traditions, and subculture. The largest ethnic groups are: Kinh 85.32%, Tay 1.92%, Thái 1.89%, Mường 1.51%, Hmong 1.45%, Khmer 1.37%, Nùng 1.13%, Dao 0.93%, Hoa 0.78%, with all others accounting for the remaining 3.7% (2019 census).

• Việt-Mường Group: Chứt, Kinh, Mường, Thổ.
• Tày-Thái Group: Bố Y, Giáy, Lào, Lự, Nùng, Sán Chay, Tày, Thái.
• Mon-Khmer Group: Ba na, Brâu, Bru-Vân kiều, Chơ-ro, Co, Cơ-ho, Cơ-tu, Cơ-tu, Gié-triêng, Hrê, Kháng, Khmer, Khơ mú, Mạ, Mảng, M'Nông, Ơ-đu, Rơ-măm, Tà-ôi, Xinh-mun, Xơ-đăng, Xtiêng.
• Mông-Dao Group: Dao, Mông, Pà Thẻn.
• Kađai Group: Cờ Lao, La Chí, La ha, Pu Péo.
• Austro-Polynenisian Group: Chăm, Chu-ru, Ê đê, Gia-rai, Ra-glai.
• Chinese Group: Hoa, Ngái, Sán Dìu.
• Tibeto Group: Cống, Hà Nhì, La Hủ, Lô Lô, Phù Lá, Si La.

The voice of each ethnic group in Vietnam creates different languages, but due to Vietnamese ethnic groups live very closely, one ethnic group may understand languages of some others whom has regular relationship while their own culture character. The main language spoken and understood by most of people is the Vietnamese Language.

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