Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Vietnam
Vietnam: Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) was 53.3% in 2025. ▼ Falling
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Vietnam, 1991–2025
Source: ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
Analysis
Vietnam recorded 53.3% for self-employed, total (% of total employment) in 2025. That is the lowest value across all 35 years on record.
Compared with earlier readings it is down 0.9% on the previous year and down 12.1% over ten years.
Over the whole period, self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Vietnam peaked at 81.3% in 1991 and was at its lowest, 53.3%, in 2025.
That places Vietnam 52nd out of 187 countries with data for 2025, putting it in the middle of the range.
The long-run direction has been consistently falling across the 35 years of available data.
Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate) in Vietnam, year by year
| Year | Value | Change |
|---|---|---|
| 1991 | 81.3% | — |
| 1992 | 80.9% | -0.5% |
| 1993 | 80.3% | -0.7% |
| 1994 | 79.6% | -0.9% |
| 1995 | 79.2% | -0.5% |
| 1996 | 78.7% | -0.6% |
| 1997 | 77.0% | -2.2% |
| 1998 | 74.2% | -3.6% |
| 1999 | 77.2% | +4.0% |
| 2000 | 76.8% | -0.5% |
| 2001 | 74.4% | -3.2% |
| 2002 | 74.8% | +0.6% |
| 2003 | 73.3% | -2.0% |
| 2004 | 69.7% | -4.9% |
| 2005 | 69.2% | -0.7% |
| 2006 | 68.7% | -0.7% |
| 2007 | 68.2% | -0.7% |
| 2008 | 67.3% | -1.3% |
| 2009 | 66.4% | -1.3% |
| 2010 | 66.2% | -0.4% |
| 2011 | 65.3% | -1.3% |
| 2012 | 65.2% | -0.2% |
| 2013 | 65.1% | -0.1% |
| 2014 | 64.3% | -1.2% |
| 2015 | 60.7% | -5.7% |
| 2016 | 58.8% | -3.1% |
| 2017 | 57.2% | -2.7% |
| 2018 | 56.1% | -1.9% |
| 2019 | 55.7% | -0.7% |
| 2020 | 55.9% | +0.4% |
| 2021 | 55.2% | -1.1% |
| 2022 | 54.7% | -1.0% |
| 2023 | 54.3% | -0.7% |
| 2024 | 53.8% | -0.9% |
| 2025 | 53.3% | -0.9% |
Vietnam compared with similar countries
- Vietnam's 53.3% is above the median for upper middle income countries, which is 32.4%, 1.6× the median. (53 countries reporting)
- Vietnam's 53.3% is above the median for East Asia & Pacific, which is 37.7%, 1.4× the median. (29 countries reporting)
Averages by decade
| Decade | Average | Lowest | Highest | Years |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990s | 78.7% | 74.2% | 81.3% | 9 |
| 2000s | 70.9% | 66.4% | 76.8% | 10 |
| 2010s | 61.4% | 55.7% | 66.2% | 10 |
| 2020s | 54.5% | 53.3% | 55.9% | 6 |
Countries ranked near Vietnam
More work & labour data for Vietnam
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 22,535 (2027)
- Labour force participation rate (ILO modelled estimates) 71.95 (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) 57,816 (2027)
- Unemployment rate (ILO modelled estimates) 1.61 (2027)
- Labour dependency ratio 0.806 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2021 international $ at PPP 30,426 (2027)
- Output per worker, GDP constant 2015 US $ 8,480 (2027)
- Employment-to-population ratio (ILO modelled estimates) 70.79 (2027)
- Persons outside the labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+) 3.1 % change on previous year (2027)
- Labour force (ILO modelled estimates) (15+), annual growth rate 0.7361 % change on previous year (2027)
Frequently asked questions
- What is self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Vietnam?
- Self-employed, total (% of total employment) in Vietnam was 53.3% in 2025, according to ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO).
- What is the highest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Vietnam?
- The highest recorded value was 81.3% in 1991.
- What is the lowest self-employed, total (% of total employment) recorded in Vietnam?
- The lowest recorded value was 53.3% in 2025.
- How does Vietnam rank for self-employed, total (% of total employment)?
- Vietnam ranks 52nd out of 187 countries with data for 2025.
- Is self-employed, total (% of total employment) rising or falling in Vietnam?
- Over the last ten years it is down 12.1%. The long-run trend across the full record is falling.
- Where does this Vietnam data come from?
- The figures come from ILO Modelled Estimates database (ILOEST), International Labour Organization (ILO), published as part of Self-employed, total (% of total employment) (modeled ILO estimate). Statizoid updates them automatically from the source API.
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About this data
Self-employed workers are those workers who, working on their own account or with one or a few partners or in cooperative, hold the type of jobs defined as a "self-employment jobs." i.e. jobs where the remuneration is directly dependent upon the profits derived from the goods and services produced. Self-employed workers include sub-categories of employers, own-account workers and members of producers' cooperatives and contributing family workers.