Vietnamese workers’ average salary rises in first quarter

Workers’ average monthly income increased to 6.3 million VND (US$273) in the first quarter, rising by 339,000 VND (US$14.7) quarter-on-quarter and up 106,000 VND (US$4.6) year-on-year, according to Pham Hoai Nam, director, Population and Labour Statistics Department, General Statistics Office (GSO), Vietnam.

On an annual basis, the highest increase in average income was seen in the agro-forestry-fisheries sector which posted growth of 5.2%, followed by the service sector’s 1.5% and industry-construction’s 0.8%. 

The incomes of those with employment contracts rose to 7.2 million VND (US$312) per month, increasing by 556,000 VND (US$24) in the first quarter compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 and up 132,000 VND (US$5.7) year-on-year. 

However, the country also saw a year-on-year decrease in the number of workers joining the workforce in the first quarter, said Pham. 

The new wave of the pandemic before the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday changed the normal growth trends. The number of workers in the workforce fell by nearly 200,000 in the first quarter compared to the same period last year and about 600,000 over the same period in 2019. 

By region, 66.7% of workers joined the labour market in urban areas, while 69.9% did so in rural areas. 

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By sector, among 49.9 million employees, 39.5% (or 19.7 million) were employed in the service sector, 32.3% (16.1 million) in the industry-construction sector, and 28.2% (14.1 million) in the agro-forestry-fisheries sector, according to the GSO. 

In the first quarter, 57.1% of the workforce, or 20.7 million workers, were employed in the informal sector, decreasing by 251,700 over the fourth quarter of 2020, but increasing by 525,400 over the same period last year, according to VNA.