Asia
To which language should you translate to localize in Vietnam ?
What we know from our community
“Vietnamese is the national and official language of Vietnam. It is spoken by the majority of the population as a native language, while ethnic minority groups speak it as a second language.
Vietnamese is a tonal language. Accents are used to denote six distinctive tones: “level” (ngang), “acute-angry” (sắc), “grave-lowering” (huyền), “smooth-rising” (hỏi), “chesty-raised” (ngã), and “chesty-heavy” (nặng). In writing, one tone is represented as unmarked (a), four are indicated with diacritics marked on a vowel (á, à, ả, and ã), and one is marked with a dot under a vowel (ạ).
The language has head-initial directionality, with subject–verb–object order and modifiers following the words they modify. It also uses noun classifiers. In Vietnamese vocabulary, there are many Chinese-Vietnamese words, French-like words, and English terms. Vietnamese also includes a large number of idioms, slang, and legends.
The language has several dialects, with the three most prominent:
– Northern Vietnamese – This is considered the standard language
-Central Vietnamese
-Southern VietnameseThere are quite a few differences in pronunciation and vocabulary between the three dialects, but they are mutually understandable – at around the same level as US and UK English.”
LANGUAGE INSIGHT
Official language
Vietnamese (86.80%; 85.8 mln)
Actual languages
Vietnamese (86.80%; 85.8 mln), Tho (1.80%; 1.7 mln), Thai (1.60%; 1.5 mln), Nung (1.10%; 1 mln), Muong (1.50%; 1.4 mln), Khmer (1.40%; 1.3 mln), Chinese (1.40%; 1.3 mln), Man (0.70%; 692k), Miao (0.90%; 889k).
What the top 150 best localized websites in the world do in Vietnam
(Top 150 websites listed in the Global by Design ranking – published annually by Byte Level Research, this report provides a list of globally localized websites, showcasing best practices and emerging trends in their globalization)
- 3/150 localize by translating into
- 1/150 localizes by translating into
- 1/150 localizes by translating into
If you need others information, below you can find a selection of economic/social/cultural data
Overview
Language
Official language
Vietnamese
T-index
0.42%
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales.
Other languages
Thai, Tho, Muong, Khmer, Chinese, Nung, Man, Miao.
English
Moderate proficiency (EF) – 58 of 113 countries/regions in the world- 7/23 position in Asia.
Demography
Capital: Hanoi
Currency: Vietnamese dong
Population: 98,85M
Population density: 311/km2
Economy
GDP: 429.72 billion USD (2023)
GDP per capita: 4,346.8 USD (2023)
Exports: $399 billion (2022)
Statistics
Internet users: 79.1% penetration, 78.44 million
Unemployment rate: 1.5% (2022)
Urbanisation: 39% (2023)
Literacy: 96% (2022)
Conventions
Numbering system
Arabic numbering system and comma as decimal separator.
Date format: yyyy-mm-dd / dd-mm-yyyy
Time: 24h time system
Country code: 0084
Language data sources: Worldatlas/Britannica//EF/Wikipedia; Demography data sources: IMF/Worldometers; Conventions data source: Wikipedia; Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal; Statistics data sources: Datareportal/WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF/Culturalatlas/Commisceoglobal
Facts and data
Economy
Imports
$358 billion (2022). Integrated Circuits ($45.2B), Broadcasting Equipment ($19.5B), Refined Petroleum ($9.7B), Telephones ($9.43B), and Coal Briquettes ($7.03B), importing mostly from China ($138B), South Korea ($60.7B), Japan ($17.9B), Chinese Taipei ($15.7B), and Thailand ($13.4B).
In 2022, Vietnam was the world’s biggest importer of Light Rubberized Knitted Fabric ($6.5B), Synthetic Filament Yarn Woven Fabric ($2.9B), Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews ($2.14B), Plastic Coated Textile Fabric ($1.64B), and Footwear Parts ($1.43B).
Financial inclusion factors (over 15 years of age)
• 31% have an account with a financial institution
• 4.1% have a credit card
• 3.5% have a mobile money account
• 21% make online purchases
Ease of doing business
Easy to conduct business (69.8 out of 100) 8th out of 25 East Asian and Pacific countries 70th worldwide out of 190 countries (2022, World Bank).
Global Innovation Index
Ranked 10th out of 16 Southern
East Asian and Oceanic countries, 46th out of 132 worldwide.
The Global Innovation Index captures the innovation
ecosystem performance of 132 economies and tracks the most recent global innovation trends.
Exports
$399 billion (2022). Broadcasting Equipment ($58.5B), Telephones ($24.4B), Integrated Circuits ($16.9B), Office Machine Parts ($16.7B), and Textile Footwear ($13.2B), exporting mostly to United States ($117B), China ($58.7B), South Korea ($25.2B), Japan ($25B), and Hong Kong ($12.7B).
In 2022, Vietnam was the world’s biggest exporter of Fuel Wood ($3.69B), Coconuts, Brazil Nuts, and Cashews ($2.93B), Non-Retail Mixed Cotton Yarn ($437M), and Cinnamon ($268M).
Main local online stores
Lazada, The Gioi Di Dong, Sendo, Shopee, Tiki
Economic freedom
Mostly not free (62.8 out of 100) 11th out of 39 countries in the Asia-Pacific region, 59th worldwide out of 186 countries (2023, Heritage Foundation and Wall Street Journal).
Economy data sources: WTO/OEC/CIA/Esomar/Datareportal
Service Imports (2019)
Service Exports (2019)
Source: OEC
Trade balance of goods from 2012 to 2022
Source: Statista
Historical Data Trade Imports
The following section uses historical trade data imports from partners of Vietnam.
Historical Data Trade Exports
The following section uses historical trade data exports from partners of Vietnam.
Source: OEC
The Top Export Opportunities for Vietnam by Relatedness
Relatedness measures the distance between a country's current exports and each product by showing only products that Vietnam is not specialized in.
Vietnam's Most Complex Exports
The Product Complexity Index (PCI) measures the knowledge intensity of a product by considering the knowledge intensity of its exporters.
Source: OEC
Vietnam's Most Specialized Products
Specialization is measured using Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA), an index that takes the ratio between Vietnam observed and expected exports in each product.
Source: OEC
Market Growth Imports (2019)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start importing that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Market Growth Exports (2019)
This score represents the likelihood that the given country will start exporting that product in the next few years. It forecasts the opening of a new specific market.
Source: OEC
Foreign direct investment, net inflows (% of GDP)
Source: WorldBank
Most popular payment methods for online shopping according to online shoppers in Vietnam in 2018
Most popular e-commerce sites for online shopping among online shoppers in Vietnam in 2019
Sources: iDea; Ministry of Industry and Trade
J.P. Morgan 2019 Payment Trends
Vietnam is an import-dependent exporter and has the largest percentage of import and export among Southeast Asia and other peer economies
As China shifts away from labour intensive manufacturing, other countries in Asia, including Vietnam, are picking up a share of this activity
Change in share of emerging market exports in labor intensive manufacturing 2014-17
Source: McKinsey
Preferred e-commerce methods in Vietnam
E-commerce payment method in Vietnam split by value
J.P. Morgan 2019 Payment Trends
T-index
Reach most of the online purchasing power
T-Index ranks countries according to their potential for online sales. It estimates the market share of each country in relation to global e-commerce.
Try it nowMedia
Media language
Vietnamese
Information channels
The Communist Party has a strong hold on the media and the state controls all print and broadcast outlets. Repressive laws constrain journalists and bloggers, says Freedom House. Those who report or comment on controversial issues risk intimidation and physical attack. Bloggers and citizen journalists are the only sources of independent news, says Reporters Without Borders (RSF), but they face “ever-harsher forms of persecution”. TV is the main medium. Vietnam Television (VTV) runs the only national networks. VTV-owned satellite and cable pay TV platforms carry some foreign TVs. Voice of Vietnam (VoV) radio networks include VoV 5, with output in English and other languages. There are hundreds of newspapers and magazines. The Communist Party, government bodies and the military own or control almost all of them, says Freedom House There were 68.5 million internet users by the end of 2018 (InternetWorldStats.com). Material deemed to threaten Communist rule, including political dissent, is blocked. Censorship by means of content removal has become systematic, Freedom House said in 2018. The NGO said that the authorities had worked with Facebook to remove hundreds of accounts accused of spreading “reactionary, anti-Party” material. A cyber security law which took effect in 2019 requires global online platforms to set up local offices and store their user data within Vietnam.
Press
Nhan Dan – Communist Party daily, English-language pages,
Le Courrier du Vietnam – in French
Vietnam News – state-run, English-language daily
Tuoi Tre – daily, published by Communist Youth Union, English-language website
Thanh Nien – daily, published by Vietnam Youth Federation
Television
VTV – Vietnam Television
Radio
Voice of Vietnam – operates national networks and an external service Dai Tieng Noi Nhan Dan (Voice of Ho Chi Minh City)
Dai Tieng Noi Nhan Dan, external (Voice of Ho Chi Minh City)
Online
VietNamNetBridge – news site run by Information Ministry, English-language pages
Media data source: BBC
Internet Data
Internet users
79.1% penetration, 78.44 million
Share of web traffic by device
84.45% mobile phones, 14.11% computers (laptops and desktops), 1.44% tablet devices.
Median speed of mobile Internet connection
47.06 Mbps
Median speed of fixed Internet connection
105.04 Mbps
Mobile connection as a percentage of total population 169.8%
Percentage of mobile connections that are broadband (3G-5G) 96.6%
Most popular web search engines
Google (96.68%), CocCoc (2.55%), Bing (0.36%), Yahoo! (0.34%), Yandex (0.03%), other (0.05%).
Most used social media
Twitter (44.01%), Facebook (40.5%), YouTube (6.2%), Pinterest (4.42%), Instagram (3.64%), Reddit (0.53%), LinkedIn (0.28%), other (0.42%).
Internet data sources: Datareportal/Statcounter
Social statistics
Life expectancy
75 yrs (2022)
Average age of the population
32.5 yrs (2020)
CO2 emissions
3.7 metric tons per capita
Current education expenditure
78.1% of total expenditure in public institutions
Class
Generally, the issue of class is not discussed in Vietnam nowadays. Instead, social gaps and inequality are becoming widely discussed topics.
Ethnicity
Vietnam has 54 distinct ethnic groups, and each group has its own language, lifestyle and cultural heritage. “Kinh”, which accounts for over 86% of the population, is Vietnam’s largest ethnic group and dominant in all walks of life of the country. In addition, other major ethnic groups in Vietnam include Tay, Thai, Muong, Khmer Krom, Hoa, Nung, Hmong, etc. The government has attempted to build roads, schools and hospitals for the poorest ethnic groups. However, ethnic minorities are still facing numerous difficulties (i.e., widening poverty gap; higher illiteracy and school drop-out rates; later enrolment rates; etc.). The human rights of ethnic minorities remain a politically sensitive issue in Vietnam.
Healthcare expenditure
4.59% of GDP (2021)
Corruption perceptions Index
Vietnam scored 42 out of 100, ranked 77th out of 180 countries worldwide.
Religion
Under a communist regime, Vietnam is officially an atheist country. However many Vietnamese continue to practise “informal” religious customs and folk religious practices. For instance, most Vietnamese honour their ancestors and follow rituals for birth, death, marriage, opening a new business, moving, etc. Vietnamese and foreigners are allowed to practice their religions, provided that these religions are permitted and closely monitored by the government. Major religions in Vietnam include Mahayana Buddhism, Catholicism, Protestantism, Theravada Buddhism, Hoa Hao and Cao Dai. At this point, religion remains one of the most politically sensitive and scrutinised topics in Vietnam.
Gender
Although Vietnam has recently achieved some progress in promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment, it remains a male-dominated society, particularly in rural areas and among most ethnic minorities. Vietnamese women are still facing numerous obstacles, including poverty, limited access to higher education and employment opportunities, persistent discriminatory attitudes and behaviour, under-representation in politics; etc.
World Happiness Index
Vietnam ranked 77th out of 146 countries, with a score of 5.485.
Social statistics sources: WorldBank/UN/UNESCO/CEIC/IMF
The Data Factbook is a work in progress project. Our community is helping us to fill it up always with new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write your advices at imminent@translated.com
Country Curiosities
Vietnamese people don’t address each other by name. As in many Asian cultures, in Vietnam, everybody is called “sister”, “brother”, “uncle”, etc. Even married couples use the word “sister” or “brother” when they speak to each other. This is the Vietnamese way of showing respect. They might use your name by saying “sister Kathy” (Em Kathy), but to just call out a name would be considered rude. The word “you” isn’t really in use either, in Vietnamese the sentence “How are you?” would sound “How is sister/brother?”
Additionally…
- Vietnamese used to be written using an edited version of Chinese characters but the language was Latinized in the French colonization period.
- Vietnam is the world’s second largest coffee exporter.
- The country has a population of 92,700,000, which makes it the 14th largest country in the world by population.
- During your business dealings in Vietnam you need to be sincere with your promises. The Vietnamese really believe in taking people at their word.
- In Vietnam, it is considered bad luck to give someone a handkerchief, yellow flowers or anything black.
- Vietnam is the largest exporter of cashew nuts as well as its largest importer.
- It is the country with the most motorcycles in the world with more than 1.5 motorcycles per inhabitant.
- Almost half of the population in Vietnam carries the same surname, Nguyen. And it is the fourth most common surname in the world.
- In Vietnam the question “Have you eaten already?” is literally translated as “Have you eaten rice already?” and is used at any time of day.
- The Vietnamese language is not only tonal, but every word is monosyllabic. So for every sound you make, there will be 6 different ways of pronunciation and with a slight change of tone, you may change the meaning of the word completely.
Languages research
Languages spoken in Vietnam
The geographical distribution of languages that you will find in the maps published in this section is a work in progress. Our community is helping us to fill it up with always new and updated data. Your contribution is precious. If you want to help us, please write to imminent.factbook@translated.com
Photo credit: Jet de la Cruz, Unsplash