Vietnam Set for 6 Percent Minimum Wage Hike in 2024

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Vietnam’s minimum wage is set to rise by 6 percent next year. Here are the details.

It has been announced that Vietnam will raise the minimum wage by 6 percent next year from July. The National Wage Council met on Wednesday and voted unanimously for the increase.

The Vietnam General Confederation of Labor had asked for between 6.48 and 7.3 percent, with the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry suggesting that a 4.5 to 5 percent increase would be better for business. The final outcome looks to have split the difference.

When this minimum wage hike comes into effect, it will be the first minimum wage adjustment for Vietnam in two years. With an average rate of inflation of 3.2 percent a year between 2012 and 2022, and inflation for the first 11 months of this year pushing 4.27 percent, this may see another wage hike necessary in the not-too-distant future.

Notably, over the pandemic, a pause in raising the minimum wage saw Vietnam’s minimum wage workers realize a real wage increase of just 0.7 percent, according to the International Labour Organisation.

This latest wage increase still needs to be officially approved. That said, it would be unusual for key decision makers to go against the recommendation of the National Wage Council.

Vietnam’s new minimum wage from July 2024

  Current (2022) Change (6%) New (2024)
Region VND US$ VND US$ VND US$
1 4,680,000 192.33 280,800 11.54 4,960,800 203.87
2 4,160,000 170.96 249,600 10.26 4,409,600 181.22
3 3,640,000 149.59 218,400 8.98 3,858,400 158.57
4 3,250,000 133.56 195,000 8.01 3,445,000 141.58

Average wage growth in Vietnam

Also of note, in a Q3 Labor Market report, the General Statistics Office found that average monthly wages had increased quarter-on-quarter and year-on-year. These increases put the average wage well above the minimum.

The average income in Q3 of this year was VND 7.1 million (US$289). This represents an increase of VND 146,000 (US$5.94) over the previous quarter and VND 359,000 (US$14.61) more than workers were earning over the same period last year.

Wages by selected industries, Q3 2023 vs Q3 2022

  Monthly wage Change
Industry VND US$ VND US$
Mining 10.4 423.11 1.030 41.90
Accommodation and food service 6.9 280.72 0.486 19.77
Wholesale, retail, and automobile and motorbike repair 8.2 333.60 0.500 20.34
Processing and manufacturing 7.8 317.33 0.271 11.03

Source: General Office of Statistics

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