China Vietnam backs away from two-child policy
Vietnam wants to abandon its two-child policy in the face of a falling birth rate.
04.06.2025, 17:25
SDA
As the state news agency Vietnam News Agency reports, couples in the communist country will in future be able to decide for themselves how many children they want to have.
Although the number of births has been declining since 2013, it has fallen significantly over the past four years. According to the country's Ministry of Health in Southeast Asia, the birth rate fell to 1.91 children per woman in 2024. According to experts, this is below the level required to maintain a stable population. In 2021, the figure was still 2.11 children per woman.
Strong population growth after the end of the Vietnam War
In the years following the end of the Vietnam War, the country experienced a population boom: the number of inhabitants rose from around 46 million in 1975 to more than 100 million in 2025. The two-child policy was first introduced in 1963, when the then independent North Vietnam began to advocate a corresponding standard due to the strong population growth of the predominantly poor and rural population.
China has been without a one-child policy for nine years
Declining birth rates are also putting pressure on politicians in other Asian countries. In China, for example, the world's second-largest economy, a new regulation to increase the retirement age has been in force since the beginning of the year due to the worsening demographic problem. According to official information, this means that over the next 15 years, men will gradually be able to retire at the age of 63 instead of 60.
Despite the end of the one-child policy nine years ago, women only have around 1.1 children on average. Due to high education costs, many families in cities cannot afford more than one child in the difficult economic situation.
