Vietnam's labor export rebounds, targets new markets

Labor migration continues to be the main form of migration in Vietnam during the period 2017 - 2023 (excluding the COVID-19 pandemic period), according to the Vietnam Immigration Profile 2023 recently released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ Consular Department.

The period witnessed nearly 860.000 workers going abroad for employment under contract, averaging more than 100.000 workers per year mainly in Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (China) ...

This is a level Vietnam has achieved since 2014, maintaining an annual increase of approximately 10,000 people sent abroad to work.

In 2020 and 2021, due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of workers going to work abroad decreased sharply, reaching only over 78,600 in 2020 and over 45,000 in 2021.

However, after Vietnam reopened its borders following the pandemic on March 15, 2022, the number of Vietnamese workers going abroad increased to nearly 142,800 in 2022, reaching nearly 160,000 in 2023, marking a strong recovery of the Vietnamese labor migration stream going abroad under contracts.

Among them, Taiwan (China) and Japan are the two markets that alternately receive the most Vietnamese workers. In the period 2017 - 2023, Japan ranked first in receiving Vietnamese workers for 5 years, namely 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, and 2023; Meanwhile, Taiwan (China) ranked first for 2 years (2017, 2021).

Vietnamese workers mainly work in manufacturing industries, such as mechanics, garment, footwear, electronics assembly (accounting for 80%); the rest work in construction, agriculture, fisheries, and services (domestic help, elderly care, patient care).

Currently, the salary and income in the South Korean market are the highest, around $1,600 - 2,000/person/month. In Japan, workers earn $1,200 - 1,500/person/month. In Taiwan (China), workers earn around $800 - 1,200/person/month, and some European countries have similar income levels.

In the Middle East and Malaysia, if workers are skilled, they earn around $600 - 1,000/person/month; for unskilled labor, the income is from $400 - 600/person/month.

Besides traditional labor markets with high income such as Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan (China), in recent years, the labor receiving market has expanded to new destinations such as Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Hungary, and Greece.