Stable growth rate
According to the Statistics Office, the period 2021 - 2025 recorded a significant increase in the digital economy. In 2021, the proportion of the digital economy accounted for 12.87% of GDP; by 2025 this figure increased to 14.02%, equivalent to a scale of more than 72.1 billion USD. The average growth rate in this period reached about 12% per year, higher than the general economic growth rate.
The added value structure of the digital economy in 2025 shows that the core digital economy sector including information technology, telecommunications, and data contributes 8.13% of GDP, while digitization of other economic sectors accounts for 5.05%. Thus, the value-added part mainly still comes from the core technology industry group, while traditional manufacturing and service sectors have only shifted to the initial level.
The digital gap between localities is widening
One of the highlights of the 2021 - 2025 period is the deep differentiation in the proportion of the digital economy between provinces and cities. Localities with high-tech industries making outstanding contributions: Bac Ninh achieved 46.30% GRDP, Thai Nguyen 29.53%, Hai Phong 22.28%, Phu Tho 22.71%. These are all localities with strong development of electronics - information technology platforms.
Meanwhile, many other provinces only achieved a proportion of less than 7%, largely due to limitations in digital infrastructure, technology human resources and investment capacity of local businesses. Even two major economic centers, Hanoi (17.34%) and Ho Chi Minh City (13.43%), are not yet in the leading group, showing that digital transformation has not spread evenly in industries and economic sectors.
This gap, if not narrowed, will hinder the goal of increasing the proportion of the digital economy to a higher level in the period 2026 - 2030.
In-depth development
Although the digital economy is growing steadily, the quality of growth is still an issue to be discussed. According to the assessment of the Statistics Office, most of the value of the digital economy still comes from core industries. High-tech fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data (Big Data), domestic cloud services or smart manufacturing are being deployed in a narrow scope.
Data infrastructure is a prominent challenge. The construction and connection of national databases is still in the early stages; data sharing and opening between ministries, sectors and businesses is not synchronized. This reduces the ability to exploit data for production, business and innovation.
Most small and medium-sized enterprises are still facing difficulties due to lack of capital, lack of human resources and lack of a methodical digital transformation strategy. This is causing the digital economy to increase rapidly in scale but has not clearly shown its impact on productivity and economic efficiency.
According to Dr. Can Van Luc - Chief Economist of BIDV, Vietnam's digital economy is entering a new expansion phase, in which digital assets will become an important component, contributing to expanding transaction space and innovating business models.
He said that Vietnam is one of the first 25 countries to officially recognize cryptocurrencies, according to Resolution 05 of the Government issued on September 9, 2025. The Ministry of Finance is implementing steps to form a cryptocurrecy market to create a legal foundation for a new component of the digital economy.
However, he emphasized that this field contains many risks of technology, fraud and price fluctuations, so it needs a mechanism to monitor and protect investors and clear market standards. He also believes that the central bank's (CBDC) digital currency will be an important component promoting safer and more transparent digital payments.
According to Dr. Can Van Luc, if policies are synchronously coordinated, new components, especially digital assets and CBDC, will create momentum for the digital economy to move towards the target of 25 - 30% of GDP by 2030.
