UNDP: Vietnam achieves good progress in human development and poverty reduction

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Viet Nam has been making good progress in Human Development and Multidimensional Poverty Reduction but challenges remain in reducing disparities at sub-national levels, and among population groups, in closing gender gaps, as well as addressing environmental problems related to carbon dioxide emission and biodiversity, said UNDP in a recent report.

UNDP: Vietnam achieves good progress in human development and poverty reduction.

Ms. Caitlin Wiesen, UNDP Country Director in Viet Nam, emphasized: Vietnam can be proud of its remarkable progress in reducing multi-dimensional poverty, lifting 6 million people out of poverty in only 4 years between 2012 and 2016...The challenge now is addressing persistent poverty concentrated among ethnic minorities in geographically challenging environments”.

Impressive progress in human development and multidimensional poverty reduction Viet Nam’s Human Development Index (HDI) ranks upper end of the Medium Human Development. With the HDI value of 0.694 in 2017, Viet Nam ranks 116th out of 189 countries (the same rank as in 2016). It needs to obtain only additional 0.006 points to join the High Human Development group.

Viet Nam is doing well in Health and Education dimensions but lagging on the Income component of the HDI. Viet Nam’s Life Expectancy at birth is 76.5 years – second in the Asia and the Pacific region, after the Republic of Korea. Mean Years of Schooling is 8.2 – higher than the average of East Asia and Pacific region. 

Turning to the 2018 global multidimensional poverty statistics, they show important progress towards achieving the SDG1 on poverty. Viet Nam’s Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI) value is 0.0197 and the country ranks 31st out of 105 countries. Viet Nam multidimensional poverty incidence of 5.0% is better than most of the countries in East Asia and Pacific region, just below Thailand (0.79%) and China (4.02%). 

“Viet Nam’s human development index (HDI) growth rate of 1.41 percent since 1990 is just four spaces shy of the High Human Development group.  With accelerated efforts to reduce disparities at subnational levels and among population groups, we believe that Viet Nam could enter the High Human Development group very soon,” said the UNDP Country Director.