Vietnam

Viet Nam’s land belongs to the entire people, with the state acting as owner’s representative and administering it. Households, individuals, communities and organizations hold different land-use rights rather than private ownership of land itself. These rights can support farming, housing, credit and investment, but their content and duration depend on the applicable law and land category.

Rapid urbanization, industrial growth, changing agriculture and pressure on forests and coastal areas make allocation and recovery of land politically and economically important. The 2024 Land Law changed the framework for land valuation, registration and recovery. Implementation, compensation and meaningful participation remain as important as the statutory text.

Land reform and collectivization transformed rural land relations in the twentieth century. The Đổi Mới reforms beginning in 1986 opened the way for household farming and market-oriented economic activity. Subsequent land laws expanded the duration and transferability of land-use rights, while retaining the principle of ownership by the entire people.

Land-use certificates, often known as red books, became important evidence of rights and facilitated transactions and credit. Industrialization and urban expansion increased demand to convert agricultural land, while forest allocation and protection policies affected upland communities. The institutional history helps explain why people may have different kinds of documentation and different relationships to land.

Land Law No. 31/2024/QH15 is the central framework, as amended. Law 43/2024/QH15 brought most of the Land Law into force on August 1, 2024, with specified exceptions. The law replaced the 2013 framework; subsequent legislation and decrees have amended aspects of implementation.

Decrees include rules on land prices, compensation and registration. The government’s account of Decree 226/2025 describes amendments to several implementing decrees, including those on valuation, compensation, registration and local government responsibilities. The current text and the applicable transition rules matter to individual cases.

A further revised Land Law was presented to the National Assembly on October 22, 2026. At that point it was a draft; its proposals should not be described as already enacted.

Decree 49/2026, effective January 31, 2026, guides implementation of National Assembly Resolution 254/2025 on difficulties in applying the Land Law. It also amends provisions concerning land administration and compensation. This enacted decree is separate from the later draft law.

Land-use rights vary with the user, purpose, source of allocation or lease, term and legal conditions. Eligible rights can be transferred, inherited, leased or mortgaged, subject to the law. A certificate records rights; it is not a deed granting private ownership of the land itself. Agricultural, residential, forest and investment land have different rules.

Household plots, collective arrangements, state-managed land and leases coexist. Older certificates and family-based allocations can leave uncertainty about who holds rights when a family changes or a parcel is divided. Registration and accessible correction procedures can help, but paper or digital records do not automatically resolve a contested claim.

Viet Nam’s ethnic minority communities have diverse relationships to upland fields, forests, water and cultural places. Customary use may include collective resources or seasonal practices that are not easily represented by a single household parcel. Forest allocation, protected areas and commercial development can overlap with these uses.

Recognition and administration should identify actual users, including women and households with incomplete documents, and provide information in accessible languages. Forest-use and land-use rights depend on the applicable legal category and local decisions; a community’s role in protecting forest is not necessarily equivalent to ownership of every resource in that area.

Women can hold and inherit land-use rights. Joint documentation of marital property helps make women’s interests visible when land is transferred, mortgaged, inherited or recovered. However, a certificate with one name may not accurately reflect all interests, and the practical ability to exercise rights can depend on family relationships, information and access to institutions.

A World Bank gender assessment describes earlier certificates that commonly recorded only a male household head and subsequent efforts to include both spouses. This is historical evidence, not a current national estimate. Women’s participation in valuation, compensation, resettlement and forest benefit-sharing is also important.

The 2024 registration decree provides for replacement of a certificate recording only one spouse when the rights are jointly held and the spouses request a certificate recording both. Later amendments and the particular property regime must also be considered.

People’s committees, land registration offices and sector agencies administer land allocation, registration, planning and other functions. Administrative responsibilities have changed with the move to a two-tier local government model. Surveys, certificates, cadastral maps, land-use plans and price data serve different purposes and may not always agree.

Decree 101/2024 addresses registration and land information, while Decree 226/2025 amended aspects of implementation. Digital records can improve access and transparency when the underlying data are accurate, services remain accessible offline and people can correct mistakes or dispute competing claims.

The 2024 law removed the former national land price bracket system, but the state continues to issue land price tables and determine specific land prices under statutory procedures. The Library of Congress analysis describes the law’s market-oriented valuation principles and annual provincial price tables beginning in 2026. Removing price brackets should not be described as eliminating official land prices.

The state may recover land for purposes specified by law, with compensation, assistance and resettlement governed by applicable provisions. Decree 88/2024 addressed compensation and resettlement, and later rules amended it. The valuation of land, timing and adequacy of compensation, restoration of livelihoods and access to remedies remain important practical questions.

Land recovery for infrastructure, industrial zones, housing and other development can affect farmers, renters, businesses and communities. Disputes may concern eligibility, boundary records, land prices, the public purpose of a project and the quality or timing of resettlement. People whose use is undocumented may have difficulty demonstrating their interests.

Clear public notice, disclosure of plans, accessible complaints processes and independent assessment can improve accountability. The 2026 draft under discussion proposes further changes, but the rights and procedures applicable to an actual recovery depend on enacted law, implementing rules and the facts of the case.

Urban expansion around Hà Nội, Ho Chi Minh City and other cities has converted agricultural land and increased demand for housing and infrastructure. Land values, development approvals and the difference between compensation and subsequent project value influence who benefits. Farmers may lose both land and nearby employment opportunities when land is converted.

Affordable housing, secure rental, transparent planning and access to services are central to inclusive urban growth. Resettlement should account for livelihoods, transport and social networks, not simply the provision of a replacement dwelling or cash payment.

Rice, coffee, rubber, fruit and aquaculture are central to different regional economies. Smallholders often farm fragmented plots and rely on irrigation, extension, credit and access to buyers. Policies encouraging consolidation or conversion can improve some forms of production while creating risks for small users if agreements or compensation are inequitable.

Livestock, grazing and seasonal resource use are important in some upland communities, although Viet Nam’s farming systems are diverse. Collective access to pasture, forest products and water should be considered alongside individually certified fields.

The Mekong and Red River deltas support farming, fisheries, settlements and industry. Dams, irrigation, groundwater extraction, sand mining and coastal development interact with flooding and salinity. Upstream and downstream decisions can affect different users and require cooperation across administrative and national boundaries.

A World Bank analysis of rural water in the Mekong Delta describes subsidence associated with groundwater extraction and riverbank erosion associated with sand mining. Adaptation can include water management, mangrove restoration and changes in farming, but the impacts and feasibility vary by place.

Viet Nam’s forest landscape includes natural forest, plantations, protected areas and land allocated to different state and nonstate actors. Forests support biodiversity, water regulation, timber and local livelihoods. Tree-cover statistics should not be treated as interchangeable with the condition or biodiversity of natural forest.

Forest allocation and protection agreements can create responsibilities and income opportunities for households and communities, but restrictions may also affect customary access. Benefit-sharing, transparent contracts and effective local participation are important when communities are asked to protect or restore forest.

Sea-level rise, flooding, saltwater intrusion, drought and land subsidence threaten homes and livelihoods, especially in the Mekong Delta. The World Bank’s 2025 delta report describes environmental and economic pressures and the need for a people-centered response.

In 2024 Viet Nam received $51.5 million for verified forest emissions reductions covering the 2018–2019 reporting period under a World Bank facility. Payment to the government and a benefit-sharing plan should be distinguished from the amount received by each community. Carbon projects should disclose restrictions, monitoring, beneficiaries and grievance mechanisms.

Mineral extraction, including coal, bauxite, sand and other materials, can affect land, water, forests and nearby settlements. Mineral permissions and land-use rights are distinct, and the applicable environmental, compensation and rehabilitation rules depend on the project and its legal framework.

Sand extraction in river systems can contribute to erosion and affect waterways and agricultural land. Transparent information on permits, cumulative impacts, monitoring and rehabilitation is important for communities that bear costs as well as for agencies and investors.

Industrial parks, urban development, infrastructure, commercial agriculture and energy projects compete for land. State agencies influence planning, allocation, recovery and prices; investors and local authorities may have more information and bargaining power than affected land users. The distribution of gains from conversion is therefore a central governance question.

Contracts, land-use plans and valuation methods should be accessible, and compensation and livelihood restoration should include affected users. Distinguishing project proposals from completed facilities and disclosed benefits from promises helps assess investment outcomes.

Priorities include reliable and accessible land records, fair valuation and compensation, and participation by women, ethnic minority communities and people without complete documents. Administrative reform should preserve opportunities to correct records and contest decisions.

Planning for cities, agriculture, forests and the Mekong Delta should account for water, climate and livelihoods. Transparent carbon benefit-sharing and accountable investment can support both resource protection and local well-being.

Law and land institutions

• Land Law 31/2024/QH15; Law 43/2024/QH15, bringing forward the effective date.
• Decree 226/2025 and implementing amendments, Government of Viet Nam.
• Revised Land Law draft presented to the National Assembly, October 2026.
• Land valuation provisions, Library of Congress, 2024.

Livelihoods and environment

• Gender and land assessment, World Bank.
• Mekong Delta report, World Bank, 2025.
• Forest carbon payment, World Bank, 2024.

October 2026: Updated the 2024 Land Law and later implementing measures, the 2026 draft, valuation, women’s rights, the Mekong Delta and forest carbon.

Confidence: High for the cited enacted laws and dated official announcements; moderate for local implementation and the final outcome of the 2026 legislative process.