Vietnam Releases the 2017 Economic Census – Enterprises and labor growth in Vietnam
The General Statistics Office of Vietnam (GSO) recently released the 2017 Economic Census, which includes information about economic establishments, business activities, labor market, and outsourcing activities. It covers State and non-state domestic enterprises as well as foreign-invested enterprises (FIEs).
Enterprises in Vietnam
According to the census, as of April 2017, there were 517,900 businesses operating in Vietnam, up 51.6 percent compared to the 2012 census. However, large companies accounted for only 1.9 percent of the total.
Currently, there are only 10,000 large firms, up 29.6 percent compared to 2012. The majority (98.1 percent) of the firms continue to be small, medium, and micro-enterprise, which grew by 52.1 percent compared to 2012 to 507,860.
Region
Southeast Vietnam accounted for 216,000 businesses, 41.7 percent of the total number of companies in the country. The region attracted 5.3 million workers, 37.7 percent of the total labor force. Red River Delta, which ranks second with 161,000 firms, accounted for 31.1 percent of the total number of businesses and 32.5 percent of the total number of employees.
The Central Highlands accounted for only 2.6 percent of the total number of enterprises, the lowest in the country.
Revenue
Net revenue in 2016 increased by 71 percent higher compared to 2011 to VND 17,858 trillion (USD765.1 billion). Highest earnings were recorded in the non-State businesses, accounting for 55.9 percent of the total net revenue. However, the highest growth was witnessed in the FDI sector, which grew by 134.5 percent in 2016 compared to 2011. State-owned enterprises (SOEs) recorded the lowest contribution to the net revenues between 2011 and 2016.
Return on assets
In 2016, FDI firms had the highest return on assets (ROA) at 6.9 percent, followed by SOEs and non-State companies at 2.6 and 1.4 percent respectively.
Sector-wise, the industrial and construction sector had the highest ROA in 2016 at 4.8 percent, followed by the agriculture, fishery and forestry sector at two percent. The ROA for the services sector was 1.6 percent in 2016.
Enterprise and labor growth
The number of SMEs between 2012 and 2017 grew rapidly, however, the number of employees in larger enterprises grew faster compared to SMEs. Between 2012 and 2017, the number of SMEs grew by 8.8 percent, faster than the number of large enterprises which grew by 5.3 percent. Labor force in large enterprises grew by 33.8 percent, while in SMEs, the growth was only 22.1 percent.
SOEs
The number of SOEs and employees between 2012 and 2017 decreased by 18.4 percent and 23.1 percent respectively.
FDI
In 2017, the number of FDI firms and employees witnessed the highest growth compared to state and non-state entities at 54 percent and 62.8 percent respectively compared to 2012.
Non-state enterprises
The number of non-state enterprises and employees grew by 52.3 percent and 27.9 percent respectively, second only to FDI firms.
This text is part of a more complete analysis available for free.
Read the full article on Vietnam Briefing.