Vietnam insurance payouts jump 15.1% to $10b in 6M 2026

Health coverage reached 99.1 million people or 96.91% of the population.

Vietnam Social Security (VSS) said it expanded coverage across social insurance (SI), health insurance (HI) and unemployment insurance (UI) during the first six months of 2026, whilst increasing benefit payments and continuing its digital transformation to improve services for people and businesses.

The agency reported that 22.28 million people were participating in social insurance, an increase of 3.3 million compared with the same period in 2025. 

This represents 46.4% of the working-age labour force.

Mandatory social insurance covered 19.6 million participants, up by 2.6 million year on year, with a coverage rate of 41.0% of the working-age labour force.

Voluntary social insurance reached 2.63 million participants, an increase of 734,000 from a year earlier. 

VSS said the scheme continues to play a key role in expanding insurance coverage.

Unemployment insurance covered 17.6 million people, an increase of 2.2 million compared with the first six months of 2025.

Coverage reached 36.8% of the working-age labour force.

Health insurance covered 99.1 million people, up by 7.9 million year on year, equivalent to 96.91% of the population.

VSS also reported that 43,359 people began receiving monthly pensions and social insurance benefits during the period, whilst 439,792 people received lump-sum social insurance payments.

A total of 4.63 million people received sickness, maternity and convalescence benefits, whilst 332,629 people received unemployment benefits.

Health insurance funded 93.75 million medical visits in the first half of the year, an increase of 11.4% compared with the same period in 2025.

VSS collected $13b (VND331t) in revenue from social insurance, health insurance and unemployment insurance, up 11.9% year on year.

Benefit payments totalled an estimated $10b (VND263.8t) during the first six months of 2026, an increase of 15.1% compared with the same period in 2025.

($1.00= VND26,265.95)