The Q4/2025 labor market update bulletin of the Hanoi Employment Service Center recently issued shows that the population of the capital city area (estimated at 3.425 million people) surpassed the rural area (3.260 million people) after a period of population structure mainly in rural areas. According to the Hanoi Employment Service Center, this is a direct consequence of the attraction of vibrant economic activities and the city's urban infrastructure development investment strategy, affirming the role of a leading economic center.
This shift is also reflected correspondingly in the labor force. The city's labor force is 4.207 million people, of which the urban area is estimated at 1.953 million people, and the rural area is estimated at 2.253 million people. This shift is providing an abundant human resource, considered a "golden driving force" to promptly meet the human resource needs from the boom of the service sector and the stable development of industry, ensuring that the capital's economic machinery operates effectively.
The rate of labor force participation in the city tends to remain unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2025 at around 63%.
Although the working-age population is increasing, the percentage of people willing to work or look for jobs is decreasing. This trend can be explained by structural factors, as a part of the young population is choosing to invest in longer-term education or temporarily not participating in the market, revealing a part of the untapped human potential.
The Hanoi Employment Service Center believes that labor market indicators in the fourth quarter of 2025 outline a multi-dimensional picture. The strong urbanization process is providing abundant human resources for growth, reflected in the increase in population and urban labor force.
However, this also creates pressure on infrastructure and increases job competition. At the same time, the labor participation rate tends to stabilize, posing for the city the problem of needing more breakthrough policies to activate and effectively utilize all human capital sources, towards harmonious and sustainable socio-economic development.
