Labor productivity rate on the rise but still too low
The Vietnamese labor productivity rate has been increasing in both value and speed, thus helping boost growth. However, there is still a big gap between Vietnam and developed economies.
The 2022 National Statistical Yearbook released by the General Statistics Office (GSO) showed that in 2021, when Vietnam was seriously impacted by Covid-19, labor productivity soared from VND150.1 million per worker in 2020 to VND172.8 million, an increase of VND22.7 million. The surprising increases in 2021-2022, as explained by the former GSO director general Nguyen Bich Lam, originated from the unusual calculation method applied by GSO. The agency excluded 4.4 million workers who made products for their consumption in the field of agriculture, forestry and seafood.
If calculating productivity in accordance with 2017 PPP, Vietnam’s productivity in 2022 was estimated to reach $20.4 trillion, just equal to 11.4 percent of Singapore’s, 35.4 percent of Malaysia’s, 64.8 percent of Thailand’s, 79 percent of Indonesia’s and 94.5 percent of the Philippines, and the same as Laos’. The figures were much higher compared with developed countries: 15.4 percent of the US, 19.1 percent of France, 21.6 percent of the UK, 24.7 percent of South Korea, 26.3 percent of Japan and 59 percent of China.
Manh Ha
