Vietnam's population forecast to reach 100 million by 2025

In 2025, the population of Vietnam will reach 100 million, an increase of 5.8% from 2016, according to a recent forecast by the Institute of Public Policy and Management.

Vietnam has managed to bring its annual population growth down to 1.07% last year. Its current population is around 92 million.

While a slow pace of population growth may take some of the pressure off the country's resources, Vietnam's economy is facing another problem: a rapidly aging workforce.

Children dressed as Santa Claus stand in front of a replica of the Bethlehem nativity grotto at the St. Joseph Cathedral in Hanoi, Vietnam December 21, 2016. Photo by Reuters/Kham

“To boost gross domestic product per capita, we have to aim for higher labor productivity,” said associate professor Giang Thanh Long, the director of the public policy institute.

Also according to the institute, Vietnam’s urban population will continue to expand at one of the highest rates in Southeast Asia.

Just 15 years ago, only 24.6% of its population lived in cities, with nearly 70% of the labor force in rural agriculture. Today, about 32 million people live in urban areas, accounting for approximately 34.1% of the population.

Vietnam is also faced with a huge gender imbalance, which in the longer term means between 2.3 and 4.3 million could have difficulties finding a female partner by 2050, according to population experts.

The ratio has been on a steady rise in recent years, running as high as 112 boys to 100 girls in 2015. In the countryside, the ratio can run much higher. Globally, the sex ratio at birth is estimated at 107 boys to 100 girls.