The information was revealed at a teleconference to announce important statistics from the 2009 General Census, which was chaired by Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung in Hanoi on August 13.

On average, the country’s population increased by 1.2 percent per year from 1999-2009, a decline of 0.5 percent from 10 years ago - the lowest rate of growth in the past 50 years. Vietnam has more than 7,200 people who are over 100 years old.

Ho Chi Minh City is the locality with the largest population (over 7.123 million), followed by Hanoi (over 6.448 million), Thanh Hoa province (more than 3.4 million), and Nghe An province (more than 2.9 million).

The results of the General Census indicate an unequal distribution of population between regions. Up to 43 percent of the country’s population live in the Red River and Mekong Deltas, while the northern mountainous region and the Central Highlands make up only 19 percent of the total population.

According to survey figures, the southeast region has the highest annual population increase rate (3.2 percent). The Central Highlands has a high rate of immigration, so its population has also risen rapidly by 2.3 percent annually.

Vietnam’s urban population accounts for 29.6 percent of the country’s population and grows at a rate of 3.4 percent per year, while the corresponding figure for the rural areas is just 0.4 percent. The southeast has a high rate of urbanization with 57.1 percent of its inhabitants living in urban areas. The region is followed by the Red River Delta (29.2 percent).

The gender ratio has continued to approach a balance, standing now at 98.1 males per 100 females, a rise of 1.4 males per 100 females against 1999.

Addressing the teleconference, Mr Hung said the results of the General Census will provide a basis for evaluating the socio-economic development strategy of the past decade and for working out a strategy for the 10 next years at both national and provincial levels.

He emphasized that a greater effort should be made to analyse and assess collected data so that full and reliable statistics can be announced officially by September 2010.

At the conference, representatives of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) pledged to continue its assistance to Vietnam in analysing survey samples to provide detailed indices of population and housing.