Country profile · Southeast Asia
Vietnam
Vietnam has 101.6 million people (2025), the 16th most in the world, and 450,000 active troops, the 11th most. The Communist Party is the only legal party. The economy grew 8.02% in 2025, and the United States is its largest export market.
Where Vietnam ranks
All rankings →Which alliances is Vietnam in?
All alliances →Disputed territories involving Vietnam
All disputed territories →
How does Vietnam vote at the UN?
Vietnam's voting record →Share of recorded UN General Assembly votes on which Vietnam and each country voted the same way, 2025.
Who runs Vietnam?
The Communist Party of Vietnam runs the country, and the constitution allows no other party. Its general secretary, To Lam, was re-elected unanimously on January 23, 2026. On April 7 the National Assembly unanimously made him president as well, and made Le Minh Hung, a former central bank governor, prime minister. To Lam was born in 1957 and spent his whole career in the police and security ministry, which he ran from 2016 to 2024. In 2021 the celebrity chef Salt Bae hand-fed him a steak wrapped in gold leaf at a London restaurant. A noodle seller who posted a parody video was later jailed for five and a half years. As security minister, To Lam helped run the anti-corruption drive that forced out two presidents and the head of the National Assembly. In the March 2026 election, 482 of the 500 deputies elected were party members (chart).
- Communist Party members 482
- Deputies outside the party 18
Photo (2026): Ministry of Defence of India, Wikimedia Commons, GODL-India
Who are Vietnam's allies and rivals?
Vietnam has no military allies, by its own rule. Its 2019 defense white paper sets out the "four nos": no military alliances, no siding with one country against another, no foreign bases and no use or threat of force. Instead Vietnam has "comprehensive strategic partnerships" with 15 partners, among them all five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Laos is the closest, under a friendship treaty of 1977. China is Vietnam's largest trading partner and its main source of tension. China holds the Paracel Islands, which Vietnam claims, and in 2026 it finished building a new island there. On August 28, 2026 Vietnam demanded "the immediate cessation" of the building. Even so, To Lam's first trips abroad as party leader and as president both went to China. The United States became a comprehensive strategic partner in 2023. Russia is the main arms supplier.
Allies and partners
LaosClosest partner; friendship treaty since 1977
United StatesLargest export market; partner since 2023
RussiaMain arms supplier; will build its first nuclear plant
JapanLargest aid donor since 1992
South KoreaLargest foreign investor, home of Samsung
PhilippinesCoast guard agreement in 2024; buys its rice
Tensions
ChinaHolds the Paracels, which Vietnam claims
- Paracel Islands Held by China, claimed by Vietnam. China finished a new island at Antelope Reef in 2026.
- Spratly Islands Vietnam holds 21 rocks and reefs and has built about 2,771 acres of artificial land.
- Lang Son Northern city taken by China in the 1979 border war.
- Cam Ranh Bay Vietnam's submarine base. A Soviet and then Russian base from 1979 to 2002.
- Vietnam
- Partner
- Tensions
Who does Vietnam trade with?
The United States bought 32.2% of Vietnam's goods exports in 2025, and China supplied 40.9% of its imports (chart). About 60% of the goods from China were parts and materials for factories. Computers, phones and electronic parts were 34.6% of exports, and foreign-owned firms made 77.3% of all exports. Samsung alone exported $57.1 billion, about 12%, and makes about half of its smartphones in Vietnam. Vietnam also made about 52% of Nike's shoes in the year to May 2026. It is the world's second-largest coffee producer and was the second-largest rice exporter in 2025, after India. By American figures, the US goods deficit with Vietnam was a record $178.2 billion in 2025. Since July 24, 2026 Vietnamese goods pay an extra 12.5% US tariff, though phones, computers and chips are exempt. In September 2026 both sides said a trade deal was "very close," but none has been signed.
Sells to
Share of Vietnam's exports
- United States32.2%
- China14.8%
European Union11.8%- South Korea6.1%
- Japan5.6%
Goods, 2025. Shares of Vietnam's exports and imports, from Vietnam Customs and the General Statistics Office. The EU counts as one market.
How strong is Vietnam's military?
Vietnam has 450,000 active troops, the 11th most in the world (chart), and men aged 18 to 25 serve for two years. SIPRI puts its military spending at $10.5 billion in 2025, 2.2% of GDP. Russia supplied 90% of Vietnam's imported weapons from 1995 to 2014 and 68% from 2015 to 2021, including six Kilo-class submarines based at Cam Ranh Bay. Vietnam now buys from more countries: South Korean howitzers, Czech jet trainers, Israeli air defenses and, in a $250 million deal, Israeli loitering munitions. In August 2026 work began on its first frigate designed at home. Vietnam has built artificial land on all 21 reefs and rocks it holds in the Spratly Islands: about 2,771 acres by May 2026, half as much as China (CSIS). Vietnam has no nuclear weapons. In March 2026 it signed a deal for Russia's Rosatom to build its first nuclear power plant.
Active troops in Asia's largest armies, 2026
Full ranking →- China2,035,000
India1,500,700
North Korea1,280,000
Pakistan660,000- South Korea450,000
- Vietnam450,000
Indonesia433,700
Thailand360,850
IISS, The Military Balance, 2024 to 2026 editions
Why did China and Vietnam fight a war in 1979?
China invaded Vietnam on February 17, 1979 to punish it for invading Cambodia. In November 1978 Vietnam had signed a friendship treaty with the Soviet Union, China's rival. On December 25, 1978 Vietnam invaded Cambodia, and on January 7, 1979 it took Phnom Penh and ousted the Khmer Rouge, China's ally. On January 30 China's leader, Deng Xiaoping, told President Carter that "China must still teach Vietnam a lesson." About 200,000 Chinese troops took part, by most outside accounts. China took the northern city of Lang Son in early March and pulled its last troops out on March 16. Tens of thousands died, though the tolls on both sides are disputed. Fighting along the border went on until 1989, and on March 14, 1988 Chinese forces killed 64 Vietnamese sailors at Johnson South Reef in the Spratlys. The two countries restored relations in November 1991. For decades Vietnamese state media said little about the war, until its 40th anniversary in 2019.