According to the 2024 Provincial Governance and Public Administration Performance Index (PAPI) report released today (April 15), the percentage of citizens reporting unofficial fees or “under-the-table” payments when using public services has decreased compared to 2023.

This year’s survey highlights corruption, poverty, and employment as the top three concerns that citizens hope the government will prioritize in the coming year. Notably, corruption has surpassed poverty to become the most pressing issue among 40 topics raised by respondents, with 22.58% identifying it as their primary concern.

Poverty, which consistently ranked first from 2015 to 2023, dropped to second place with 14.2%, followed by employment (12.64%). The proportion of respondents identifying corruption as the most concerning issue surged by 17 percentage points compared to 2023 (from 5.25%), while concern over poverty fell by 8 percentage points.

This shift reflects the improving economic conditions in 2024 and the intensified anti-corruption efforts by the Vietnamese government. According to the General Statistics Office, Vietnam’s GDP grew by 7.09% in 2024, with quarterly growth accelerating throughout the year. The national unemployment rate declined to 1.65% by Q4, down from 1.98% at the same time in 2023.

Public concern over corruption likely stems not only from personal experience but also from widespread media coverage of investigations and prosecutions involving senior officials and business leaders. While public anxiety about corruption has increased, overall citizen confidence in the government's anti-corruption efforts also rose significantly in 2024.

Specifically, all indicators under the “Control of Corruption in the Public Sector” category showed improvement. The “Local government’s determination to combat corruption” sub-index, which had declined for three consecutive years, rebounded to 1.99 points in 2024 (on a 0.25–2.5 scale).

Improved fairness in public sector recruitment

The 2024 survey also recorded a decline in the number of citizens who reported having to pay unofficial fees or offer bribes to access administrative and public services.

The report recommends that all levels of government enhance transparency in public service delivery, improve law enforcement, and ensure protection for whistleblowers, especially amid the current restructuring of administrative units.

The “Fairness in public sector recruitment” indicator saw a notable increase in 2024. This suggests that the public recognizes stronger efforts by authorities to curb favoritism and bribery in government hiring processes at all levels.

In parallel, the proportion of respondents who believe that personal connections are “important” or “very important” in securing a public sector job has continued to decline since 2017. However, the figure remains high, ranging from 56% to 61%. The belief in the importance of “connections” is strongest for positions such as local land officers and judicial officials, with over 60% citing it as essential. For administrative staff at commune-level offices, the rate is 55.85%, and for public primary school teachers, it is 56.15%.

PAPI is a citizen-led tool to monitor the performance of provincial governments in policy implementation at the grassroots level. After a pilot in 2009 and broader deployment in 2010, PAPI has been conducted nationwide since 2011. The 2024 survey interviewed 18,894 randomly selected citizens.

PAPI measures eight key dimensions: citizen participation at the grassroots level; transparency in local decision-making; accountability to citizens; control of corruption in the public sector; public administrative procedures; public service delivery; environmental governance; and e-governance.

PAPI is the result of a collaboration between the Centre for Community Support and Development Studies (CECODES), Real-Time Analytics (RTA), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) in Vietnam, with support from the Vietnam Fatherland Front system since 2009.

Nguyen Thao