Ho Chi Minh City has seen its population increase by 41.14 percent or more than two million people over the last decade and the a growing trend of mechanical increases in population.

According to the latest population census, as of April 1 this year, the city population is more than 7.1 million, of which around 3.69 million are female and 3.42 million are male.

The city’s booming growth accounts for 22 percent of the total population increase of 9.47 million people in Vietnam within the last ten years, from 1999 to 2009.

The population density is 3,400 persons per square kilometre.

The population in the city increased faster in the last decade compared with the earlier periods. While the annual population growth rate on average during the 1999-2009 is 3.53 percent, that of the 1989-1999 period was 2.36 percent and for 1979-1989, 1.63 percent.

While natural population increases were dominant in the two earlier periods, the latest decade saw the growing trend of mechanical population increases.

The population increases faster in suburban and newly- established districts than it does in central districts, partly because more city dwellers are moving out of central areas to live in the suburbs due to high accommodation costs and the relocation of households to make space for urban projects.

Yet, Ho Chi Minh City still has the fastest speed of urbanisation, with the number of people living in the city centre accounting for over 83 percent of the whole population. Hanoi ’s urbanisation rate is 40.8 percent./.