More than 5,000 older residents in Hanoi's Da Phuc Commune receive free health check-ups under a programme jointly organised by city hospitals on Aug 14, 2025. — VNA/VNS
HANOI: Vietnam is moving to redefine its rapidly ageing population as a driver of growth and social stability, as the country prepares to exit its 'golden population' phase by 2036.
In February 2025, the Government approved a national strategy on older persons, signalling a shift away from treating ageing solely as a welfare challenge and towards recognising older citizens as an underused economic and social resource.
The strategy frames older people as contributors to national development, calling for their experience, skills and knowledge to be mobilised across economic, social, educational and political life, in line with their health and capacity.
It sets employment, health care, community participation and lifelong learning as central pillars of the response to population ageing.
Under the plan, Vietnam aims to ensure that at least half of older people who want and are able to work have jobs by 2030, rising to 70 per cent by 2035.
The Government has also committed to supporting at least 100,000 people in this group with vocational retraining and career transition programmes, while providing preferential loans to families with older members seeking to start or expand businesses.
These measures are backed by the Law on Employment passed in mid-2025, which takes effect this year and prioritises job support for older workers, including access to credit, skills training and nationally recognised vocational certification.
Officials say the approach reflects existing realities.
More than 95,000 older Vietnamese already run farms or businesses, while nearly 750,000 remain active in local governance, mediation, public security and community organisations.
“The economic and social potential of older people remains very substantial,” said Phan Văn Hùng, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of the Elderly.
Hung noted that demand in the so-called 'silver economy' is increasing and the market is expanding, but its potential remains largely untapped, pointing to the need for stronger employment policies and improved access to capital.
Intergenerational self-help clubs, designed to combine social activities with income generation and health support, have expanded nationwide to over 9,000 groups with approximately 330,000 members.
Health care reform is the second main part of the strategy. By 2030, all older people are expected to have health insurance, regular check-ups and electronic health records, with most hospitals required to establish dedicated geriatric services or wards.
The Government plans to raise this coverage further by 2035, along with expanded screening, rehabilitation and long-term care services for older people with disabilities or chronic illness.
Vietnam has also committed to eliminating substandard housing for older people, expanding social pensions and guaranteeing full access to social assistance for poor seniors without family support.
In July 2025, citizens aged 75 and over became eligible for a social pension, a move expected to raise the number of beneficiaries to about three million by 2026.
Demographic pressures are intensifying. Vietnam currently has about 16.5 million people aged 60 and above, roughly 16 per cent of the population, and that share is rising quickly.
According to the United Nations Population Fund, more than two-thirds of older Vietnamese live in rural areas, where health care infrastructure and specialised geriatric services are often less developed than in urban centres.
UNFPA has urged Vietnam to accelerate the development of a 'care economy', combining home-based, community and institutional care models, while encouraging private investment and public-private partnerships.
Expanding digital health monitoring, intergenerational programmes and lifelong learning opportunities could help reduce social isolation and sustain older people’s economic participation, the agency said.
A separate Politburo resolution on public health sets a target of raising average life expectancy to 75.5 years by 2030, with at least 68 years lived in good health.
Starting this year, all citizens will be entitled to at least one free annual health screening, with a roadmap towards basic hospital fee exemptions under national health insurance by the end of the decade.
Vietnamese policymakers increasingly argue that the challenge is not simply how to care for an ageing society, but how to adapt institutions, labour markets and health systems quickly enough to harness the 'silver economy' before demographic pressures intensify further.
As Vietnam approaches the end of its demographic dividend, officials and experts alike see ageing not as an inevitable drag on growth, but as a test of whether the country can build a more inclusive, resilient and human-centred development model. — Vietnam News/ANN
