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Policy profile on 12 axes

How Vietnam Is Governed

Vietnam is a unitary state that scores 0.10 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 21% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is in use and same-sex marriage is banned in law. Below: the laws, institutions and public spending of Vietnam, scored on the same 12 axes as the test, with every indicator and source.

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Policy profile

The 12 axes, indicator by indicator

This profile describes the country's policy regime (laws, institutions and public spending) from published indices, not the views of its people or its current leaders. Data as of October 2026; each value shows its own year.

Ownership-0.30PublicPrivate4 indicators and sources
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State dominates strategic sectors and much of large enterprise (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Property Rights (0-100): 47.3 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Investment Freedom (0-100): 60 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Financial Freedom (0-100): 50 (2026). Source
Markets-0.05PlannedFree5 indicators and sources
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Business Freedom (0-100): 70 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Labor Freedom (0-100): 54.7 (2026). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Monetary Freedom (0-100): 73.2 (2026). Source
  • Regulatory Quality, estimate (-2.5 to 2.5): -0.14 (2025). Source
  • State ownership of the economy (coded tier): State dominates strategic sectors and much of large enterprise (2026). Source
Welfare+0.65SharedSelf-reliant3 indicators and sources
  • General government total expenditure (% of GDP): 20.97 (2025). Source
  • Domestic general government health expenditure (% of GDP): 2.02 (2023). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Tax Burden (0-100): 80.9 (2026). Source
Authority+0.85DemocraticStrong leader2 indicators and sources
  • Liberal Democracy Index (0-1): 0.1 (2025). Source
  • Judicial constraints on the executive (0-1): 0.15 (2025). Source
Security+0.65LibertyOrder4 indicators and sources
  • Freedom in the World civil liberties score (0-60): 16 (2025). Source
  • World Press Freedom Index score (0-100): 21.15 (2026). Source
  • Death penalty status: Retentionist, executions in the last 5 years (2025). Source
  • Prison population per 100,000 people: 135 (2022). Source
Structure+0.05LocalCentral2 indicators and sources
  • Territorial form of the state: Unitary state (2025). Source
  • Strong elected regional governments index (0-1): 0.93 (2025). Source
Morality-0.30ProgressiveTraditional3 indicators and sources
  • Same-sex marriage law (0 marriage, 1 civil union or partnership, 2 no recognition, 3 constitutional or statutory ban): Same-sex marriage banned in law (2026). Source
  • Abortion law: On request (within a gestational limit) (2025). Source
  • Women, Business and the Law: Legal Framework Index (0-100): 86.73 (2025). Source
Religion-1.00SecularReligious2 indicators and sources
  • Religion and the state: State promotes atheism or tightly controls all religion (2025). Source
  • Blasphemy or religious-insult law in force: None (2025). Source
Technology-0.50EmbraceCaution3 indicators and sources
  • Research and development expenditure (% of GDP): 0.41 (2023). Source
  • Nuclear power policy: Building or officially planning new reactors (2025). Source
  • Genetically modified crop cultivation: GM crops grown commercially (2025). Source
Culture+0.40MulticulturalNational identity4 indicators and sources
  • International migrant stock (% of population): 0.32 (2024). Source
  • Citizenship by birth in the territory: None: citizenship by descent only (2025). Source
  • Residence required for ordinary naturalization (years; 0 = no ordinary route): 5 years (2025). Source
  • Dual citizenship for naturalizing adults: Restricted (some countries only, permission, or exceptions) (2025). Source
Trade-0.70GlobalProtected4 indicators and sources
  • Tariff rate, applied, weighted mean, all products (%): 1.07 (2022). Source
  • Tariff rate, applied, simple mean, all products (%): 3.71 (2022). Source
  • Index of Economic Freedom 2026: Trade Freedom (0-100): 79.8 (2026). Source
  • Trade (exports + imports) (% of GDP): 190.34 (2025). Source
Foreign policy+0.20CooperationStrength5 indicators and sources
  • Military expenditure (% of GDP): 2.15 (2025). Source
  • Military conscription: Universal compulsory service (2025). Source
  • Nuclear weapons status (0 none, 1 considers, 2 pursues, 3 possesses): No nuclear weapons program (2023). Source
  • Party to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court: Not a party (never joined, signed only, or withdrew) (2026). Source
  • Collective defense commitments: None, or formal neutrality outside any pact (2026). Source

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Policy neighbours

Governed most like Vietnam

Every other country with a profile, tinted by how close its laws, institutions and public spending are to those of Vietnam on the same 12 axes. The percentage uses the 12 Axes match formula.

  1. 1China80%
  2. 2Turkey75%
  3. 3Philippines74%
  4. 4Russia74%
  5. 5Ukraine74%
Least similarLuxembourg48%
World map of countries by how similar their policy regime is to VietnamClosest: 1. China 80%, 2. Turkey 75%, 3. Philippines 74%, 4. Russia 74%, 5. Ukraine 74%, 6. Hungary 73%, 7. Colombia 71%, 8. India 71%, 9. Singapore 71%, 10. Romania 70%. Least similar: Luxembourg 48%. Every country is in the list after the map.Vietnam
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  • Under 55%
  • 65 to 74%
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FAQ

Vietnam: questions

How is Vietnam governed, on the 12 axes?

Vietnam is a unitary state that scores 0.10 out of 1 on the V-Dem Liberal Democracy Index (2025). Government spending is 21% of GDP (IMF, 2025), the death penalty is in use and same-sex marriage is banned in law. Its policy regime leans furthest toward Secular on Religion (-1.00), Strong leader on Authority (+0.85) and Global on Trade (-0.70), on a scale from -1 to +1.

Which countries are governed most like Vietnam?

On the same 12 axes, the closest policy regimes are China (80%), Turkey (75%) and the Philippines (74%). The furthest is Luxembourg (48%). Matches use the same formula as the 12 Axes test.

Where does the data on Vietnam come from?

From 41 indicators dated 2022 to 2026, published by V-Dem, Freedom House, the Heritage Foundation, the IMF, the OECD, the World Bank, SIPRI, Reporters Without Borders, the World Prison Brief, UN DESA and others. Among them: a press freedom score of 21.2 out of 100 (RSF, 2026), 135 prisoners per 100,000 people (2022), military spending of 2.2% of GDP (SIPRI, 2025) and 0.3% of residents born abroad (UN DESA, 2024). Every value, year and source is listed in the profile above.

Does the profile describe what people in Vietnam think?

No. It describes the policy regime: laws, institutions and public spending. It does not measure public opinion or the speeches of the current government. To see which country is governed closest to your own views, take the 12 Axes test and open the country match on your result.

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