Foreigners will be counted in the households in a national census, which began at 0 o'clock on April 1 in 63 cities and provinces for a month, according to the General Statistics Office of Vietnam GSO.

Speaking at the launch of the 2024 Mid-Term Household Census on April 1, Nguyen Thi Huong, Director of the GSO, said: "This is a nationwide census that has a relatively large scale and covers all households."

The census subjects are households (including information on the household's housing); and the actual permanent resident population (including persons in the armed forces and persons with foreign citizenship currently living in the household). This excludes people living in army and police zones.

The census data are also used to formulate policies, population, and housing plans in the service of the Socio-Economic Development Plan 2026-2030 and to monitor progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals committed to by the Government.

Children in a primary school in Hanoi. Photo: The Hanoi Times

In this census, the GSO will mainly collect data on demographic information of household members, information on migration, education, marriage, birth history of women aged 10-49, household deaths, household housing, and living conditions.

Matt Jackson, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) Representative in Vietnam, said Vietnam is in a period of rapid socio-economic growth and the success of the socio-economic development plan and other development plans will be determined by the data system and legal data.

The General Census of Population and Housing is necessary for Vietnam as it is the 15th most populous country, with over 100 million people. Vietnam is undergoing significant demographic changes with a rapidly aging population.

This survey will collect key data not yet available in existing population databases or other administrative sources, such as women's reproductive history, death, migration, gender imbalance at birth, disability, marriage/child marriage, education, labor force, and housing," said Matt Jackson.

The data collected on population and housing are protected by the Statistics Law. The work of the census takers will be supported by the use of technology in collecting data on population and housing.