Can you believe it when an income and spending level of 40-50 million VND per month in Vietnam is considered to be quite well-off, even relatively rich, but Numbeo says that is just the minimum level.
Some opinions say that the statistical organization's data is not close to reality in Vietnam, so sometimes it is only for reference.
First, if a couple works with an average salary of 22 million VND per person per month, not many families can reach this level on average.
Second, the monthly living cost of 44 million VND is not close because organizations often buy products from supermarkets and shopping centers, while most people go to the market. Therefore, the cost does not need to be 44 million VND to live in the city, in fact it is lower than that and still live well.
However, there are also people who cite: "I live in Ho Chi Minh City, a family of 4 people, the older child is in 2nd grade, the younger child is 7 months old, and already has a home. My family hires someone to take care of the child, the average monthly cost is 40 million VND, not including expenses."
Someone calculated: "My family lives in Ho Chi Minh City, including 2 husband and wife, a 4-year-old child, house rent is 10 million VND, food is 12 million VND, children's school fees are 8 million VND, cafe, eating out, transportation is 15 million VND , gifts, giving to parents, shopping, studying, insurance 15 million VND, other nonsense 5-10 million VND. If it's any less, the quality of life will go down. But spending like that still doesn't feel too comfortable...".
Spending depends on each family's income and Numbeo's numbers may actually be true for a part of people's lives. But the reality is, Ho Chi Minh City is still one of the most expensive places in Vietnam.
In early April 2024, the General Statistics Office released the 2023 spatial cost of living index (SCOLI) report. Accordingly, Hanoi is the most expensive locality in the country.
Considering provinces and centrally run cities, Hanoi is taken as the base for comparison and is calculated as 100%. Ranked second is Ho Chi Minh City with a SCOLI index equal to 98.44% of Hanoi; Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, and Binh Duong are the next 3 most expensive localities in the top 5.
For many consecutive years, Hanoi has always ranked first in the country in terms of cost of living index by space. Ho Chi Minh City - the most populous city in the country - ranked second because some product groups in Ho Chi Minh City have lower average prices. For example, garments, hats, and shoes are 82%; culture, entertainment, tourism by 91.8%; Food and beverage services by 94.1%; household appliances and equipment by 94.9%.
The difference between the survey numbers shows that it is necessary to have more specific and accurate statistics on people's income and spending levels in order to come up with appropriate policies, including questions such as: Income tax is outdated and not in line with people's income and spending.
