How Vietnam Cut Poverty

How Vietnam reduced extreme poverty from most of the population to a small share within a few decades, and the roles of farming, jobs and public services.

Vietnam’s poverty reduction is one of the most dramatic in the world.

The numbers

According to the World Bank, the share of Vietnamese living in extreme poverty fell from around half of the population in the early 1990s to just a few percent by the 2010s.

How it happened

Farm reforms raised rural incomes first.
Factory jobs from exports employed millions.
Infrastructure: roads, electricity and clean water reached villages.
Education and health services expanded widely.

Inclusive growth

Growth reached rural areas, not just cities, partly because early gains came from agriculture.

Remaining gaps

Ethnic minorities in mountainous areas remain poorer.
Informal workers lack social protection.

Middle-income ambitions

Vietnam aims to become a high-income country by 2045.

Lesson

Combining agricultural gains with labour-intensive manufacturing jobs lifted large numbers out of poverty.

The family's transformation

In the 1990s, a family grew rice with no electricity. Today, their village has power and paved roads, and their daughter works in an electronics factory.

Thinking growth automatically reduces poverty

Vietnam's growth reached the poor through farm reforms, jobs and services.

Key takeaways

Extreme poverty fell from about half to a few percent.
Farm reforms, factory jobs and services drove the fall.
Growth reached rural areas.
Ethnic minorities remain poorer.