According to statistics from the Ministry of Home Affairs, there are 89,574 villages and residential groups nationwide as of 2025.
This is the figure obtained after reducing 47,250 villages and residential groups in 10 years of implementing Resolution No. 18-NQ/TW and current legal regulations.
In fact, the Ministry of Home Affairs records that there are still many villages and residential groups that do not meet the criteria for household size according to current regulations and are not uniform between regions.
Statistics show that there are 21,199 villages concentrated in the northern mountainous region with less than 150 households. Meanwhile, in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, there are many large-scale residential groups, over 1,000 households.
Previously, the whole country had an average of 9 villages/communes. After the provincial and commune level arrangement in 2025, the average number of villages and residential groups increased by 3 times, about 27 units/commune.
The Ministry of Home Affairs said that this reality has increased the number of focal points and created great management pressure on commune-level authorities; at the same time, current regulations have not been adjusted to suit current practices.
In the Draft Decree on the organization and operation of villages and residential groups being consulted, the Ministry of Home Affairs proposes the principles of establishment, arrangement, and reorganization; dissolution, naming, and renaming of villages and residential groups.
This must comply with the provisions of law, ensure democracy, publicity, and transparency; inherit and promote historical, cultural, customary, and habit values suitable to the natural and socio-economic conditions of the locality.
The establishment of villages and residential groups must be consistent with the characteristics, natural conditions, socio-economic development level, cultural and traditional characteristics; specific conditions of administrative units after arrangement and the 2-level local government organization model.
Implement rearrangement and reorganization for villages and residential groups that do not meet the criteria according to the provisions of law or according to management requirements, socio-economic development, urbanization, population distribution and organizational activities of residential communities. The rearrangement and reorganization of villages and residential groups needs to consider factors of geographical location, terrain, customs, habits, population characteristics, socio-economic development level and people's aspirations in the locality; ensure political stability, social order and safety, create consensus among the people, facilitate people's lives and activities and improve the efficiency of management and service to the people by the grassroots government.
The dissolution of villages and residential groups is carried out in cases due to changes in geographical factors and terrain affecting the management and operation of villages and residential groups or due to the implementation of the Compensation and Resettlement Plan.
The naming of villages and residential groups is carried out simultaneously in the process of establishing, arranging, and reorganizing villages and residential groups. The renaming of villages and residential groups is carried out in cases of duplicate village and residential group names in the same commune-level administrative unit or according to the wishes of the people in villages and residential groups.
