Youth is the center of the population strategy
July 11th every year is chosen by the United Nations as World Population Day to raise awareness about population, reproductive health, gender equality and sustainable development. This year, the global message aims to accompany youth, creating a foundation for a comprehensive development future.
Speaking at the ceremony to respond to World Population Day, Mr. Le Thanh Dung - Director of the Population Department (Ministry of Health) - said that population work in the past time has achieved many important results, making positive contributions to socio-economic development.
In 2025, the National Assembly passed the Population Law, creating a synchronous legal corridor for population work in the new period. In addition, the National Target Program on health care, population and development for the period 2026-2035 has also been approved, creating resources to implement population policies in the coming time.
However, Vietnam still faces many challenges such as prolonged low birth rates in many localities, rapid population aging, gender imbalance at birth not being effectively controlled, and population quality not meeting development requirements.
According to Mr. Le Thanh Dung, this year's World Population Day theme is of special significance as Vietnam possesses a large, dynamic and potentially rich youth force. This is a resource that determines the quality of human resources and national competitiveness in the future.
Young people need to proactively equip themselves with knowledge, skills, reproductive health care, build progressive families, have responsible children and raise children well. At the same time, the young generation needs to master science and technology, take advantage of opportunities from digital transformation and the 4.0 Industrial Revolution to contribute to the country's development.
Population challenges are increasingly clear
According to the United Nations, people aged 65 and over account for about 10% of the world's population in 2024 and may increase to 16% by 2050. The average life expectancy globally is also expected to reach 77.4 years old in the period 2050-2055.
Meanwhile, more than 60% of the world's population lives in countries with birth rates below the replacement threshold, narrowing the labor force, promoting aging and increasing pressure on the economy and social security.
Vietnam is currently in the group of countries with population aging rates. Pressure on the health system, social security and elderly care services will increase.
In addition, population quality still has limitations in physical strength, stature, reproductive health and human resource quality. Therefore, investing in youth through education, vocational training, health care and job creation is considered a key solution to improve population quality.
Mr. Le Thanh Dung said that it is necessary to build a healthy environment for young people to study and train; strengthen life skills education, knowledge of reproductive health and safe sexual health; limit pregnancy and childbirth in adolescence.
Alarming gender imbalance at birth
According to the 2024 Mid-Term Population Census, Vietnam has a surplus of about 415,200 men of marriageable age due to a gender imbalance at birth that has lasted for more than 20 years. It is forecast that by 2034, the number of men of marriageable age will be about 711,700 more than women and peaks in 2049 with a shortage of about 1.3 million women. By 2074, the gap is still about 829,000 people. Currently, the sex ratio at birth is 111.4 boys/100 girls, higher than the biological balance of 106/100.
Mr. Le Thanh Dung warned that gender imbalance at birth can make it difficult for many men to marry, and at the same time increase the risk of gender-based violence, human trafficking, sexual exploitation and inequality.
From May 15, Decree 90/2026/ND-CP raises the penalty for the act of choosing the gender of the fetus. Diagnosing and revealing gender against regulations is fined 7-15 million VND; abortion to choose gender may be fined up to 30 million VND.
The 2025 Population Law, effective from July 1, 2026, is expected to create a shift from the "Family Planning" mindset to "Population and Development", contributing to improving population quality and adapting to population aging.
Investing in youth and improving population quality is the responsibility of the whole society. Equipping young people with knowledge, skills, health and development opportunities will create a foundation for a sustainable future.
