This raises the question: Is this sector large or small, and can it shoulder such a role?

Private enterprises have risen remarkably

Intellectuals, scholars, and economists all affirm that the private enterprise sector represents the nation’s endogenous strength. It has grown substantially and is sufficiently large to assume this role, provided that there is such a policy.

The following data further addresses this significant question.

Private enterprises refer to domestically registered private enterprises officially documented through the business registration system of the Ministry of Planning and Investment.

Currently, due to changes in statistical methodologies, no one knows exactly what proportion the officially registered private enterprise sector contributes to GDP.

Before the Statistical Yearbook of 2019, figures about the private economic sector were calculated separately, listed as an independent category, and accounted for approximately 8–10 percent of GDP only. This indicates that the sector did not grow after nearly 40 years of reform. These figures align with data from the Central Economic Commission, now the Central Policy and Strategy Commission.

In 2019, the General Statistics Office (GSO) announced a recalculation of the GDP scale. Accordingly, Vietnam’s GDP increased by an additional 25.4 percent annually in 2011–2017 due to the inclusion of 76,000 additional enterprises.

These figures require further clarification because it is odd why the inclusion of a modest number of enterprises (76,000), just 10 percent of the total 758,610 active enterprises as of the end of 2019, can result in a high 25.4 percent GDP growth rate.

Starting from the Statistical Yearbook 2020, the private enterprise sector has been aggregated into the non-state economic sector, alongside the household economic sector (both agricultural and non-agricultural) and the collective economic sector.

For instance, according to the Statistical Yearbook 2023 (the latest updated yearbook), the non-state economic sector contributed approximately 50 percent of GDP, 56 percent of the total investment capital of the whole society, and generated over 82 percent of total employment opportunities.

Due to this aggregation, it remains unclear what exact proportion of GDP the private enterprise sector accounts for.

Recently, statistics from official authorities showed that the officially registered private enterprise sector contributes approximately 28 percent of GDP.

This is a highly significant and groundbreaking discovery, as it demonstrates that Vietnam’s private enterprise sector has made a powerful rise, becoming the largest contributor to the nation’s GDP. It surpasses the state economic sector’s contribution of 21 percent, the FDI economic sector’s of 20 percent, business households 21 percent, and the collective economy’s 1 percent.

In summary, the non-state economic sector—including the private enterprise sector—accounts for half of Vietnam’s GDP and is rightfully a key driver of economic growth.

So, if the private economic sector does not achieve a high and sustainable double-digit growth rate, the economy cannot attain a double-digit growth rate as desired.

Numerous challenges persist

Nevertheless, it is undeniable that Vietnam’s private enterprise sector remains relatively young and faces numerous challenges.

A recent survey by the Ministry of Planning and Investment (now the Ministry of Finance) indicated that nearly 54 percent of the 30,000 surveyed enterprises reported significant difficulties due to low domestic consumption.

The 2024 PCI (provincial competitiveness index) report by the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VCCI) noted that business optimism was at a lower level compared to previous years. Only 27 percent of enterprises planned to expand production and business operations in the next two years—the lowest figure over the decade.

In January 2025 alone, more than 58,300 enterprises withdrew from the market. and In 2023-2024, a total of 370,500 enterprises exited the market (197,900 in 2024 and 172,600 in 2023).

In terms of scale, micro-enterprises account for approximately 69 percent, small enterprises 25 percent, medium-sized enterprises 3.5 percent, and large enterprises approximately 2.5 percent (25,000, of which Vietnamese private enterprises comprise about one-third of this figure).

A report shows that there are 940,000 active enterprises nationwide, far below the targets of 1 million enterprises by 2020 and 1.5 million by 2025, as set out in Resolution 10 of 2017.

Thus, the number of newly established enterprises is growing slowly, while the number of enterprises exiting the market has reached a record high. 

Party Committee Secretary General To Lam has stated the need to further reform institutions and improve the business environment. Institutional reforms must aim to eliminate at least 30 percent of unnecessary business conditions. 

Tu Giang