Ho Chi Minh City, a megacity with more than 14 million people, has the lowest birth rate in Vietnam.

Siêu đô thị TP.HCM hơn 14 triệu dân có mức sinh thấp nhất Việt Nam - Ảnh 1. — Ho Chi Minh City is no longer a "young city" when the birth rate is alarmingly low - Photo: QUANG DINH

On September 25, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health held a launching ceremony for the Integrated Communication Campaign with Service Provision to Improve Population Quality in Low Birth Rate Areas by 2025.

This year continues to mark an important shift in population work in the city, following the direction of the Department of Population ( Ministry of Health ) in the context of Ho Chi Minh City's birth rate being very low compared to the national average.

Speaking at the launching ceremony, Mr. Bui Chi Tinh, Deputy Director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Health, said that by 2024, the total fertility rate of Ho Chi Minh City (after the merger) will only reach 1.43 children/woman, the lowest in the country.

This figure is a warning that the city's health sector needs to quickly adjust and deploy response measures.

"In 2025, the campaign is organized with the goal of both improving population quality, urgently solving the problem of low birth rate, and adapting to the increasingly aging population," he emphasized.

To be effective, the leaders of the Department of Health requested the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Population to advise, directly organize, guide and support the implementation of the campaign from the city to the wards and communes.

The City Center for Disease Control, upper-level medical units and grassroots medical stations need to develop specific plans to ensure the quality of specialized service packages.

At the same time, the People's Committees of wards, communes and special zones must urgently implement new resolutions of the City People's Council on policies to reward and support individuals and groups that do well in population work - including policies to support women who give birth to two children before the age of 35, women from poor and near-poor households, social protection beneficiaries and people in island communes.

At the ceremony, Mr. Pham Chanh Trung - Head of the Ho Chi Minh City Population Department - said that after merging three localities, Ho Chi Minh City became the largest megacity in the country with 168 administrative units and more than 14 million people. However, the city is currently in the group of 13 localities with the lowest birth rate in the country.

"In 2024, the average number of children of women of childbearing age in Ho Chi Minh City will only reach 1.43 - the lowest level in the country. This is a big challenge because if this situation continues, the young labor force will decrease sharply, while the number of elderly people will increase rapidly, creating heavy pressure on the social security and health systems," said Mr. Trung.

9,100 women in Ho Chi Minh City who give birth to two children before the age of 35 will receive a subsidy of 3 million VND.

At this launching ceremony, 22 women in An Dong ward who gave birth to two children before the age of 35 received a subsidy of 3 million VND.

According to Mr. Pham Chanh Trung, from December 21, 2024 (the time when Resolution 40 of the Ho Chi Minh City People's Council takes effect) to now, Ho Chi Minh City has made a list of 9,100 women who gave birth to 2 children before the age of 35, the second child born between December 21, 2024 and August 31, 2025, will receive a subsidy of 3 million VND.

And from September 1, 2025, women living in Ho Chi Minh City who give birth to two children before the age of 35 will receive VND5 million in support from the City according to Resolution 32 of the City People's Council that has just been issued.

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THUY DUONG

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/sieu-do-thi-tp-hcm-hon-14-trieu-dan-co-muc-sinh-thap-nhat-viet-nam-20250925105817865.htm