Ho Chi Minh City tops the population aging index in Vietnam, an official said at a seminar earlier this week.

The city indexed at 65.36 in 2023, meaning that there were 65.36 people over 60 years old for every 100 people below the age of 15.

The southern metropolis boasts the largest population in Vietnam, Pham Binh An, deputy director of the Ho Chi Minh City Institute for Development Studies, reported at the seminar 'Population Aging and Policies to Adapt to Population Aging in Ho Chi Minh City.'

The city had more than 1.3 million people aged 60 and older, making up 12.05 percent of its population at the end of 2023, according to data from the Ministry of Public Security.

The city entered an aging period in 2017 and its population aged 60 and older is forecast to account for 20 percent of the total population by 2030 and over 30 percent by 2050.

Its population aging was attributed to low fertility rates, low mortality rates, and an increasing average lifespan.

The average lifespan of Ho Chi Minh City citizens reached 76.46 last year, higher than the country’s average of 74.5.

The city's aging population has resulted in a decline in the working-age population, piling economic pressure on young workers and complicating the country's comprehensive development plan.

Trung suggested that Ho Chi Minh City launch old-age insurance to counter these negative effects. 

In 2022, the number of people covered by social insurance rose by only 953,000 people while the number of one-time social insurance withdrawals reached 980,000.

Vietnam has yet to develop its old-age insurance market, Trung said, adding that there is a need to build social welfare facilities and nursing homes for the elderly.

The number of these facilities remains modest in Ho Chi Minh City, at 25-30.

As a result, the city should work out preferential policies on taxes and land handovers, as well as call on private firms to develop nursing services for the elderly, said Trung.

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