Vietnam's birth rate sank to a record low in 2024, with the total fertility rate falling to 1.91 children per woman. This marked the third consecutive year the figure remained below the replacement level of 2.1 — and it's happening against the background of a booming economy.

The country's population currently hovers around 100 million people. The Vietnam News Agency cited Pham Vu Hoang, deputy director of the health ministry's population authority, as saying that the population could begin to decline by mid-century.

Urban centers are already feeling the impact. Ho Chi Minh City, the country's southern economic hub, saw its fertility rate plummet from 1.39 children per woman in 2022 to just 1.32 in 2023, and likely deep again last year, according to Vietnamese news agencies.

In response, the city's People's Council recently implemented measures to encourage higher birth rates, including grants for women under 35 with two children and small stipends for prenatal and neonatal screenings for low-income families. They've recently announced plans to boost the effort, hoping to get the fertility rate to 1.6 by 2030.

Same state-run media have previously warned of a "demographic time bomb." Separately, the Generation Myths & Realities 2024 report by Ipsos, a market research firm,

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