Vietnam Reports Lower Population Growth This Year

Vietnam reports lower population growth this year

HANOI, Dec. 21 (Xinhua) — Vietnam’s population growth has dropped to 1.33 percent in 2005 from 1.4 percent in 2004, local newspaper Young People on Wednesday quoted the country’s Committee for Population, Family and Children as saying.

Each Vietnamese woman, on average, has 2.1 children this year, down from 2.23 in 2004, the committee said, adding that Vietnam now has a population of over 83 million.

However, the rate of families having more than three children has risen to 20.8 percent this year from 20.2 percent last year, it said. Vietnam plans to pour some 3.5 trillion Vietnamese dong (221.5 million US dollars) into curbing population growth and improving population quality from 2006 to 2010. The money will be mainly used to ensure that each couple to have no more than two children so that the population will remain stable at around 88 million by 2010, the committee said.

Under a recent resolution of the Communist Party of Vietnam, the country’s population should grow gradually, and then remain stable at 115 million-120 million in mid-21st century.