Government and power in Vietnam

Who leads Vietnam, how the World Bank's governance indicators score it, how many women sit in parliament and government, what the state spends and taxes, and the official bodies that hold power to account. System of government: Unitary one-party socialist republic.

Who leads Vietnam?

• Head of state: To Lam (General Secretary of the Communist Party of Viet Nam and President of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam)
• Head of government: Le Minh Hung (Prime Minister of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam)
• Foreign minister: Le Hoai Trung (Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Socialist Republic of Viet Nam)

Source: Heads of State, Heads of Government, Ministers for Foreign Affairs: Public List (United Nations Protocol and Liaison Service), list dated 15 October 2026. All world leaders.

Governance scores

The World Bank's Worldwide Governance Indicators combine surveys of households and firms with assessments by public, private and non-governmental bodies. Each score runs from 0 to 100; higher means the sources rate governance better. They measure perceptions, and each has a margin of error.

Voice and accountability

Measures how far citizens can choose their government, and freedom of expression, association and the media.

Political stability and absence of violence

Measures the likelihood of political instability or politically motivated violence, including terrorism.

Government effectiveness

Measures the quality of public services and the civil service, and how independent they are from political pressure.

Regulatory quality

Measures the government's ability to make and carry out policies that let the private sector develop.

Rule of law

Measures confidence in and respect for the rules of society, including contract enforcement, property rights, the police and the courts.

Control of corruption

Measures how far public power is used for private gain, including petty and grand corruption and "capture" of the state by elites.

Official bodies that hold power in Vietnam

Government

• Government Portal of Viet Nam
  Government decrees, decisions, policy documents and news.

Parliament

• National Assembly
  Laws, resolutions, session records and deputies of the National Assembly.

Elections

• National Election Council
  Election results, candidate lists and election documents for the National Assembly.

Courts

• Supreme People's Court
  Court news, precedents and published judgments.

Public audit

• State Audit Office of Viet Nam
  Audit reports and audit result summaries on the state budget and public entities.

Public contracts

• National E-Procurement System
  Procurement plans, tender notices and contract award results for Vietnamese public procurement, run by the Ministry of Finance.

Laws and the official gazette

• National Database of Legal Documents (Ministry of Justice)
  Full texts of laws, ordinances, decrees and circulars with their validity status.
• Official Gazette
  Legal documents published in the Official Gazette of Viet Nam.

Government below the national level

• Provinces and centrally run cities (34 since 1 July 2025; previously 63): People's Council elected for five years; it elects the People's Committee and its chair
• Commune level: communes (xã), wards (phường) and island special zones: People's Council elected; People's Committee elected by the council
• Hamlets and villages (thôn, bản) and urban residential groups (tổ dân phố): Heads elected at meetings of household representatives and recognised by the commune

How local power works in Vietnam

Places in Vietnam

• All 63 provinces
• The 5 largest cities
• Official statistics for Vietnam

Sources

• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Voice and accountability (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 70f2804fd1e2…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Political stability and absence of violence (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1317de0c85e1…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Government effectiveness (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a775e808dc65…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Regulatory quality (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 83b57e36ff8c…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Rule of law (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0bccc3c054e8…)
• World Bank: Worldwide Governance Indicators: Control of corruption (governance score 0-100), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 3b15a5340cdd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Seats held by women in national parliament (SG.GEN.PARL.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 1ae1dc13981a…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Women in ministerial positions (SG.GEN.MNST.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a4e448a5b8bd…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Military spending (MS.MIL.XPND.GD.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 a7f6913a783b…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Armed forces personnel (MS.MIL.TOTL.P1), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 fa4663c743ba…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: Statistical Performance Indicator (overall score) (IQ.SPI.OVRL), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 08ac7cde9129…)
• World Bank: World Development Indicators: People using the internet (IT.NET.USER.ZS), read 23 October 2026 · saved copy (SHA-256 0d78dc658329…)

Each saved copy is the file exactly as downloaded, kept so the figures can be checked even if the source changes. Report an error.