Vietnam unemployment estimated to rise this year to 1.3 million

Workers at a factory in Long An Province, July 2021. Photo by VnExpress/Hoang Nam

An International Labor Organization (ILO) report estimates the number of unemployed workers in Vietnam this year at 1.3 million, higher than the 1.2 million last year.

VN Express reported that the figures were mentioned in a Monday ILO press release marking publishing of its report titled: "World Employment and Social Outlook: Trends 2022."

The 2022 unemployment projection is equal to that of 2020, the year Covid-19 erupted.

A chart showing Vietnam's unemployment number from 1991 to 2023. Graphics by ILO

As per this year's estimates, Vietnam ranks second among Southeast Asian countries, with Indonesia the first (6.1 million) and Philippines the third (1.1 million).

The figures of Indonesia and Philippines are unchanged from those in 2021.

Vietnam's unemployment rate rose to 3.72 percent in Q3 2021, the highest since early 2020 when the novel coronavirus was first detected in the country, according to the General Statistics Office (GSO).

It had around 49.2 million workers aged fifteen or more in Q3, down 1.9 million against Q2, and down 2.1 million against the same period last year.

"The complicated Covid-19 situations significantly affected people's lives in the first nine months of 2021," the ILO release says.

Since the pandemic flared Vietnam has imposed lockdowns and social distancing rules several times to contain transmission of the novel coronavirus, leading to closure or partial operation of many businesses, including those in major industrial hubs like Bac Giang and Bac Ninh in northern Vietnam, and HCMC, Binh Duong, Dong Nai in the south.

Reports have also estimated that around 2.2 million workers have left Vietnam's major cities and returned to their hometowns over long-lasting pandemic impacts.

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