At a press briefing on the afternoon of January 14, Mr. Do Ngoc Tho, Head of the Social Insurance Implementation Policy Department (Vietnam Social Insurance), said that currently, there are nearly 3.4 million people nationwide receiving monthly pension and social insurance benefits.

By the end of December 2024, the average pension will be nearly 7 million VND per month, including the armed forces. If we only consider the civilian sector, people's pensions will be lower. This average pension level is higher than the average income per capita in 2024.

According to the preliminary survey results of the living standards of the population in 2024 just announced by the General Statistics Office, the average income per capita in 2024 will reach about 5.4 million VND/person/month, an increase of 8.8% compared to 2023.

Pensions are continuously adjusted, most recently, from July 1, 2024 , the Government adjusted pensions, social insurance benefits and monthly allowances to increase by 15% compared to the pension level of June 2024.

Mr. Tho Social Insurance .jpeg
Mr. Do Ngoc Tho said the average pension in 2024 will reach nearly 7 million VND/month.

The Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said that in 10 years (2013-2023), the Government has adjusted pensions 7 times with an average increase of more than 8.43%, the adjustment rate each time was higher than the increase in the consumer price index in the same period.

The 15% increase from July 1, 2024 is actually twice as high as the average adjustment for the 2013-2023 period.

According to Vietnam Social Security, from 1995 to the end of 2023, pensions have been adjusted 23 times. Accordingly, pensions have increased from 21 to 26 times compared to pensions in 1995.

Continuously adjusted pensions are still low, with large differences

It can be seen that although the average pension in 2024 is higher than the average income per capita, in general, the majority still receive low pensions.

Especially for those who retired before 1995, even though the pension rate is adjusted to increase by 15% from July 1, 2024, the salary is still low.

The Social Insurance Law 2024, effective from July 1, 2025, will continue to increase pensions appropriately for those with low pensions and those who retired before 1995 to ensure narrowing the pension gap between retirees in different periods.

However, apart from those whose pensions are too low and have been adjusted to increase as above, the majority of retirees currently still receive a salary of 5-6 million/month.

Pensioners and social insurance beneficiaries register to receive benefits via personal accounts (ATM).png
Pensioners are having a big gap.

A labor and salary expert said that the social insurance benefit is calculated based on the contribution level, the contribution period and is shared among the participants. However, the current policy does not ensure the principle of "sharing among social insurance participants".

The pension adjustment based on the inflation rate percentage is issued annually, for those with high pensions, it does not have a big impact compared to the income they are enjoying.

On the contrary, people who are receiving low pensions with higher adjustments will have a very positive impact on themselves and society.

“With the same 15% pension increase, recently people with high salaries have had their pensions increased by several million, some even tens of millions. Meanwhile, people with low pensions have only had their pensions increased by a few hundred thousand.

This difference needs to be calculated in the direction of increasing the rate higher for low pensioners and increasing the low rate for high pensioners. Only then will the principle of sharing among social insurance participants be ensured," a labor and salary expert stated.