Vietnam ranks 7th in Asia in terms of the number of internet users.

Vietnam is among the top 10 Asian countries with the fastest internet user growth rate, ranking third in Southeast Asia, seventh in Asia, and eighteenth in the world in terms of the number of internet users.

This is one of the ICT statistics published in the 2014 White Paper on Information and Communication Technology in Vietnam, released by the Ministry of Information and Communications.

By the end of 2013, Vietnam had over 33 million internet users, up from 31 million in 2012, accounting for 37% of the total population. The number of broadband internet subscribers reached 22.3 million, while the number of subscribers accessing the internet via 3G mobile networks was 17.2 million. Vietnam's telecommunications and internet prices were ranked 8th out of 148 countries, meaning they were among the lowest in the world.

The popularity of mobile devices has contributed to the increase in the number of internet users in Vietnam. Photo: Tuan Hung.

With over 100,000 new domain registrations and 266,000 active domain registrations in 2013, the Vietnamese national domain .vn continues to hold the number one position in Southeast Asia in terms of the number of country code top-level domain users, increasing by an average of 172% annually.

In terms of IT rankings, according to a Gartner report, Vietnam is among the Top 10 countries in the Asia-Pacific region and Top 30 globally for software outsourcing. Ho Chi Minh City ranks 17th and Hanoi ranks 22nd in the list of 100 most attractive cities for software outsourcing.

Total revenue for the IT industry in 2013 reached over US$39.5 billion, a spectacular increase of 55.3% compared to 2012. This impressive figure is thanks to the growth rate of the hardware and electronics industry, with revenue exceeding US$36.7 billion, accounting for 93% of the total revenue of Vietnam's IT industry. The software and digital content industries increased by 12.7% and 13.9% respectively – also high rates compared to 2012.

In 2013, IT product exports reached US$34.76 billion, an increase of 51.7%, with mobile phone exports accounting for 63%. Notably, total export value exceeded import value by nearly US$8.4 billion.

The total number of IT workers exceeds 440,000, with hardware workers accounting for 65%. The country has 8 concentrated IT zones, attracting nearly 300 operating businesses and 46,000 IT workers.

The Vietnamese IT industry has also witnessed changes in its organizational structure. First, the National Committee on Information Technology Application was established, chaired directly by the Prime Minister. Following this, on July 1, 2014, the Politburo issued Resolution No. 36 on promoting the application and development of information technology to meet the requirements of sustainable development and international integration.

Source: VNExpress