Vietnam

Economy & income

Currency

• Vietnamese Dong (VND, ₫)
• ~26,262 per USD (14 Jul 2026; dong near record lows, ~USD/VND 26,250-26,300 band, State Bank-managed crawling peg)

GDP per capita

• ~$4,745 nominal (2025 est, IMF WEO Oct 2025; ranks ~127th globally)
• ~$17,700 PPP (2025 est, IMF; ranks ~109th) — World Bank 2024 nominal ~$4,300+. Fast-growing lower-middle-income economy (~7% real GDP growth 2024-2025)

Average salary

• ~$316 net/mo (GSO average monthly wage of employees ~VND8.3M Q1 2025, ~VND8.68M Q4 2025 ~$330; urban ~VND10.4M ~$397 vs rural ~VND8.4M ~$321, ~24% gap)
• Numbeo (HCMC/Hanoi-skewed, thin) shows higher urban figures

Median salary

• n/a — GSO publishes mean wage, not median
• mean employee wage ~VND8.3-8.7M/mo (~$316-330, 2025)
• Self-employed/informal (~2/3 of workforce) earn far less, so true median is lower, likely ~VND6-7M (~$230-270)

Minimum wage

• Regional minimum wage, 4 zones (Decree 293/2025/ND-CP, eff. 1 Jan 2026, +7.2% avg): Region I (HCMC/Hanoi urban) VND5.31M/mo (~$202)
• Region II VND4.73M (~$180)
• Region III VND4.14M (~$158)
• Region IV (rural) VND3.7M (~$141)

Cost of living

• Low — Numbeo (Jul 2026): single person ~$430/mo excl. rent
• overall ~61% cheaper than the US, rent ~74% cheaper
• HCMC/Hanoi/Da Nang pricier
• total single-person budget incl. rent ~$600-1,000/mo in big cities
• Numbeo sample decent for HCMC/Hanoi, thin elsewhere

Digital landscape

Population

101 million (Jan 2025, DataReportal) — 40.5% urban, median age 33.4

Internet users

78.8% (~79.8M users, Jan 2025; ~21.2M still offline; median mobile download 75.7 Mbps, fixed 154 Mbps)

Social media users

75.2% (~76.2M identities, Jan 2025; +4.8% YoY; 51.0% female / 49.0% male; = 95.4% of internet users)

Mobile connections

127M cellular connections = 126% of population (100% on 3G/4G/5G broadband)

Devices

• mobile ~63.3% / desktop ~35.8% / tablet ~0.9% (StatCounter web traffic, Jun 2026) — note the unusually HIGH desktop share for SEA (PC-gaming & internet-café culture)
• still mobile-first for consumers

Ad spend

• DataReportal publishes no Vietnam ad-spend figure
• Statista: digital ad spend ~US$1.45B (2025)
• broader digital ad-spend estimates ~US$4.94B (2025, Research & Markets) reflecting differing definitions
• total ad market larger
• Digital is the growth engine (~10%+ CAGR)

Top social platforms

Facebook ~76.2M / 75.2% — #1, the mass-market backbone

YouTube ~62.3M / 61.5%

Messenger ~55.9M / 55.2%

TikTok ~40.9M adults 18+, 55.6% of adults — #1 for social commerce

Instagram ~10.6M / 10.4% — notably small; urban/youth niche only

LinkedIn ~8.9M / 8.8%

Messengers

• Zalo (dominant homegrown messenger, VNG — ~77M+ users, the national default; also mini-app/payments super-app)
• Facebook Messenger (~55.9M — huge second)
• Telegram (large for channels/groups, affiliate & grey traffic)
• WhatsApp (minor — used mainly for cross-border/business)
• Viber (legacy, declining)

Payments & behaviour

Payment methods

• Bank transfer / VietQR (dominant — interoperable NAPAS QR; QR ~54.7% of transactions 2025, cheap for micro-merchants)
• E-wallets (MoMo, ZaloPay, VNPay, ViettelPay — top-5 ~65% combined share)
• Cash on delivery / COD (still major for e-commerce, esp. outside metros & in social commerce, but declining)
• Debit/credit cards (growing but low card penetration; domestic NAPAS cards common)
• BNPL / installments (small, emerging — Fundiin, Kredivo, Home PayLater)

E-wallets

• MoMo (clear leader; evolving into a financial super-app after $300M Series E, Jan 2025)
• ZaloPay (VNG; in-chat payments via Zalo, ~20M+ active mid-2025)
• VNPay (merchant/QR-focused, bank-integrated)
• Viettel Money / ViettelPay (telco-backed, strong rural/mobile-money reach)
• ShopeePay (embedded in Shopee); Moca (Grab, exited 2024)

Cash on delivery

• Still significant — COD remains a default for many online shoppers (trust habit, low card use), especially outside HCMC/Hanoi and in Facebook/TikTok social commerce
• but shrinking fast as VietQR & e-wallets spread
• Government targets 80% non-cash e-commerce by 2030 (Decision 2345/QD-NHNN)

E-commerce

• High and booming — top-4 platforms' revenue ~VND429.7T (~US$16.5B) in 2025, +34.8% YoY
• Increasingly a duopoly: Shopee ~56% + TikTok Shop ~41% = ~97% of GMV
• Lazada + Tiki shrank to ~3%
• Livestream/social commerce is the engine

Notes

• Mobile-money pilot (Viettel, VNPT, MobiFone) extends cashless payments to the unbanked/rural via phone credit
• Rails are QR + bank-transfer + e-wallet first
• international card checkouts convert relatively poorly outside affluent urban buyers

Audience & culture

Languages

• Vietnamese (official, near-universal lingua franca — use for all creatives)
• Ethnic-minority languages (Tày, Thái, Mường, Khmer, Hmong, Nùng, Hoa/Chinese — 53 recognized minorities, ~14.7% of population)
• English (growing among urban youth, business & tech; limited mass reach)

Religion

• Large folk-religion / ancestor-worship & 'no organized religion' majority (culturally ~70%+)
• Govt Committee for Religious Affairs 2025: Buddhist 14.9%, Christian 8.5% (Catholic 7.4%, Protestant 1.1%), Hòa Hảo Buddhist 1.5%, Cao Đài 1.2%, plus Islam/others

Median age

33.4 years (DataReportal Jan 2025) — young-ish, mobile-native, but aging faster than SEA peers

Key seasons

• Tết Nguyên Đán / Lunar New Year (Jan-Feb — THE commercial superbowl: bonuses, gifting, FMCG, travel, homecoming)
• Mid-Autumn Festival / Tết Trung Thu (mooncakes, kids, gifting)
• Online mega-sales — 9.9 / 10.10 / 11.11 / 12.12 + Black Friday (Q4 peak)
• Christmas + solar New Year (Dec-Jan, urban)
• April 30-May 1 (Reunification + Labour Day) & Hùng Kings' holidays (travel/retail)
• Back-to-school (Aug-Sep)

Cultural notes

• Overwhelmingly Facebook + Zalo + TikTok
• livestream & social commerce (TikTok Shop, Shopee Live) drive purchases
• Price-sensitive, deal- and KOL/KOC-driven
• COD trust runs deep
• After the 2025 Kera-candy scandal, consumers and regulators are far more skeptical of influencer health/beauty claims
• Modesty and political/historical sensitivities shape acceptable creative

Where to find creators

• TikTok (dominant for reach + commerce)
• Facebook (mass reach, groups, livestream)
• YouTube
• Instagram (urban/youth, smaller)
• Micro/nano-KOCs via Zalo & Telegram groups

Media landscape

Creators & public figures

Top creators

Sơn Tùng M-TP (Nguyễn Thanh Tùng) ~11.5M YouTube / ~8M Instagram

YouTube/InstagramVpop superstar & M-TP Entertainment founder — top digital star and premium brand endorser (beverages, tech, fashion)

Đ

Độ Mixi (Phùng Thanh Độ) ~7M YouTube (MixiGaming)

YouTube/streamingTop gaming streamer/KOL — gaming, esports, energy-drink & F&B brand fit; huge young-male reach

ViruSs (Đặng Tiến Hoàng) ~3M+ YouTube

YouTube/streamingMusic producer, streamer & tech/gaming commentator — youth & gaming audiences (controversy-prone)

C

Cris Phan (Phan Xuân Bách) ~10M YouTube (Cris Devil Gamer)

YouTubeComedy/gaming/reaction vlogger — mass youth reach; FMCG & youth brands

M

Misthy (Lê Vũ Hoàng Anh) ~7M YouTube

YouTubeEntertainment/gaming creator — top female creator; beauty, mobile games, youth FMCG

K

Khoai Lang Thang (Đinh Võ Hoài Phương) ~4M YouTube

YouTubeTravel & food vlogger — clean, family-friendly image; tourism, F&B, regional brands

P

PewPew (Hoàng Văn Khoa) ~3.6M YouTube

YouTube/streamingEx-streamer turned F&B entrepreneur & KOL — young-male & business/lifestyle reach

Celebrities

Trấn Thành ~16M+ Facebook (Instagram smaller)

MC/comedian & Vietnam's highest-grossing film director — one of the most-followed Vietnamese public figures (Facebook-first)

Chi Pu (Nguyễn Thùy Chi) ~6M Instagram

Singer & actress — Forbes Asia digital star; strong cross-platform (FB/IG/YT/TikTok) reach

Đen Vâu (Nguyễn Đức Cường) ~several M (YouTube/Facebook-led; Instagram smaller)

Top Vietnamese rapper — massive with youth; YouTube/Facebook-first

Mỹ Tâm ~several M Facebook (Instagram smaller)

Biggest female Vpop singer for two decades — mass-market icon, Facebook-first

Hoàng Thùy Linh ~1-2M Instagram (larger on Facebook)

Singer & actress — folk-pop hitmaker with strong female following

Hương Giang (Hương Giang Idol) ~1-2M Instagram (larger on Facebook)

Singer & Miss International Queen 2018 — transgender icon and entertainment entrepreneur

Affiliate & traffic

Hot verticals

• E-commerce / retail CPS (backbone — TikTok Shop ~40% of affiliate revenue)
• Finance (consumer loans, cards, e-wallets, insurance — CPL/CPA)
• iGaming / betting (illegal but huge grey demand & RevShare)
• Nutra / beauty / health (large but high-risk post-Kera crackdown)
• Mobile games & apps (CPI)
• Crypto & dating (grey/sensitive)

Active networks

• ACCESSTRADE Vietnam (market leader; ~2.6M publishers, 100+ campaigns)
• MasOffer / Eway (e-commerce, finance, travel, beauty)
• Adflex (CPO/COD-focused)
• AdPia, Permate, DiNow
• Involve Asia (regional); Shopee / Lazada / Tiki / TikTok Shop in-house programs

Payouts

• E-commerce CPS ~1-10% (TikTok Shop/Shopee/Lazada)
• finance CPL/CPA modest
• app-install CPI low
• iGaming CPA high but illegal/risky
• Absolute payouts low — a scale/volume play, not a margin play

Competition

• Classic Tier-3 — enormous mobile audience and volume at low CPMs/CPCs but low payouts
• E-commerce & fintech affiliates very active
• grey verticals (iGaming, illegal app-loans, nutra) have big demand but face rising compliance/blocking risk under Decree 147 & the tightened Advertising Law

Seasonality

• Tết (Lunar New Year) is the #1 spend peak (bonuses, gifting, travel)
• then Q4 mega-sales (11.11, 12.12, Black Friday), Mid-Autumn, and back-to-school

Traffic sources

• TikTok (organic + Ads + TikTok Shop affiliate)
• Facebook / Meta Ads + groups & livestream
• Google Search/Display + SEO
• KOL / KOC micro-influencer partnerships
• Zalo & Telegram groups/channels

Good to know

Capital

Hanoi (Hà Nội)

Major cities

• Ho Chi Minh City / Saigon (largest, ~9M+ — commercial capital)
• Hanoi (capital, ~8M+)
• Hải Phòng
• Đà Nẵng
• Cần Thơ
• Biên Hòa / Thủ Đức / Nha Trang

Time zones

• Single zone — Indochina Time (ICT), UTC+7, no DST
• Capital Hanoi = UTC+7

Android vs iOS

59% 41%

Android 59% iOS 41%

Phone brands

• Apple/iPhone (~39% — usage leader)
• Samsung (~21%)
• Oppo (~16%)
• Xiaomi (~10%)
• Vivo (~5%); Realme (~3%) (StatCounter mobile vendor, May 2026)

Top e-commerce

• Shopee (leader, ~56%)
• TikTok Shop (~41%, surging via livestream/social commerce)
• Lazada
• Tiki (local)
• Sendo (local); + ShopeeFood/GrabFood/Be for on-demand

Peak activity

Evenings ~8-11pm ICT (after work/dinner) is prime, especially for TikTok/Shopee livestream commerce; lunch ~12-1pm secondary; heavy late-night mobile scrolling

Creative taboos

• Politics & any criticism of the Communist Party/state ('anti-state' content is criminal)
• territorial/China disputes (South China Sea, Hoàng Sa/Trường Sa)
• ex-South-Vietnam symbols & sensitive war history
• religion
• explicit/sexual imagery
• LGBTQ tolerated but treat conservatively for mass market

Also worth knowing

1. Facebook + Zalo dominate — Zalo (homegrown, VNG) is the default messenger and a growing payments/mini-app super-app; Instagram is small here.
2. TikTok Shop livestream/social commerce is exploding (~41% of e-commerce) — short video + KOC drives sales.
3. KOL crackdown: after the 2025 Kera-candy scandal (Quang Linh Vlogs, Hằng Du Mục & Miss Thùy Tiên prosecuted for false supplement ads), nutra/health/beauty claims and influencer marketing are high-risk and now pre-approval-gated.
4. Unusually high desktop share (~36%) vs SEA peers (PC-gaming & internet-café culture).
5. Strict internet law (Decree 147/2024): real-name verification, data localization, fast takedowns — plan for account/creative churn.