According to Circular No. 26/2025 of the Ministry of Home Affairs, workers, vocational learners, practitioners and people working without labor relations; foreign workers working in Vietnam can retire early if they work in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions, but not more than 5 years old compared to the retirement age.
The retirement age in 2026 for men is 61 years and 6 months, and for women is 57 years, according to the roadmap for adjusting the retirement age of employees specified in Decree No. 135/2020/ND-CP.
Circular No. 26/2025 also stipulates that the working time of employees before January 1, 2021 in places with regional allowances with a coefficient of 0.7 or higher or places with regional allowances from 25% or higher is determined as working time in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions to serve as a basis for determining cases that may retire at a lower age than the retirement age in normal working conditions.
The time for employees to work from January 1, 2021 to before January 1, 2026 in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions to be used as a basis for determining cases that may retire at a younger age than the retirement age in normal working conditions is applied according to the List of areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions to be used as a basis for determining cases that may retire at a younger age than the retirement age in normal working conditions issued together with Circular No. 19/2021 dated December 15, 2021 of the Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs.
In which, the working time of employees from July 1, 2025 to before January 1, 2026 in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions to be used as a basis for determining cases that may retire at a lower age than the retirement age in normal working conditions is determined according to the working time in areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions in June 2025.
Detailed list of areas with particularly difficult socio-economic conditions:
