Fertility rates over the past two years increased across many localities in Vietnam, and it was even higher than the total replacement birth rate, said Director General of the General Department of Population and Family Planning Nguyen Doan Tu.
A low birth rate in the years to come could affect Thailand's financial stability due to an increasing number of senior citizens, the Finance Ministry’s Fiscal Policy Office (FPO) has said.
According to results of the latest census announced on June 16, Singapore’s population saw an annual growth of just 1.1 percent in the last decade, which is the slowest rate since independence in 1965.
Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has approved a birth rate adjustment programme towards 2030 which encourages people to get married before the age of 30 and women to give birth to their second child before 35.
People from Hanoi have Vietnam’s longest life expectancy, estimated at more than 75 years old, 1.6 years higher than the national average, according to the Hanoi Population and Family Planning branch.
Troubled by low fertility rates in southern provinces, the Ministry of Health has proposed relaxing the country’s two-child policy in order to allow Vietnamese parents to decide the number of children they want.
Vietnam may fail to curb the sex imbalance at birth in 2016 as about 113.4 boys were born for every 100 girls during the first half of this year, higher than last year’s ratio of 112.8/100.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) will continue maintaining a reasonably low birth rate nationwide, as well as taking measures to reduce the birth rate in rural and remote areas this year.
Vietnam’s population has remained stable and yet to surpass 92 million people, heard a conference held on January 14 reviewing last year’s outcomes related to population and family planning.
Arising hurdles in birth rate and maternity and children death are hindering Vietnam from fulfilling the national goals of its population and reproductive health strategy as well as the UN millennium.
Hanoi’s birth rate this year is likely to stand at 15.8 per 1,000 members of the population, a sharp drop from 19.36 in 2012 and meeting the city’s yearly target.
Vietnam’s population policy overhaul should work towards maintaining the birth rate at 2.1 and gender balance to provide a workforce that can drive the economy forwards.
The birth rate in Hanoi city in the first quarter dropped as compared to
the same period last year, but gender inequality remains high with
114.7 boys per 100 girls.
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