DIGITAL 2023 - Quarter 1

DIGITAL 2023 - Quarter 1 : Viet Nam

17 Mar, 2023

The Vietnam Digital Report in 2023 published by WeAreSocial records significant changes, revealing the trends of internet users, and active social media users in Vietnam. This report also shows how digital trends and behaviors are evolving.

DIGITAL 2023 - Quarter 1
Table of contens

The Vietnam Digital Report in 2023 published by WeAreSocial records significant changes, revealing the trends of internet users, and active social media users in Vietnam. This report also shows how digital trends and behaviors are evolving. Let's see in detail how digital changes affect Vietnamese people's lives and challenges and opportunities for businesses in the coming time.

1. Vietnam overview

Vietnam’s total population was 98.53 million in January 2023. Data shows that Vietnam’s population increased by 689 thousand (+0.7 percent) between 2022 and 2023. The median age of Vietnam’s population is 32.7. At the start of 2023, 39.1 percent of Vietnam’s population lived in urban centers, while 60.9 percent lived in rural areas.

2. Internet users

There were 77.93 million internet users in Vietnam in January 2023. Vietnam’s internet penetration rate stood at 79.1 percent of the total population at the start of 2023. Kepios analysis indicates that internet users in Vietnam increased by 5.3 million (+7.3 percent) between 2022 and 2023. The daily time spent using the internet across all devices is 6h23m, which is lower than this figure in 2022. 

3. Social media statistics

There were 70.00 million social media users in Vietnam in January 2023. Our analysis of various data points from trusted third parties such as GWI and data.ai shows that there has been no discernible drop in overall social media use, and in almost all countries, social media use continues to increase. According to our data, the main reasons for using social media are keeping in touch with friends and family (54.7%) and reading news stories (49.2%). Most of other reasons are related to entertainment such as seeing what’s being talked about, watching live streams, finding inspiration, etc.

4. Social media platforms

Data published in Meta’s advertising resources indicates that Facebook had 66.20 million users in Vietnam in early 2023. However, Meta has made important changes to the way its advertising resources report audience reach data over recent months – including making significant revisions to its base audience data for Facebook. Photo posts and video posts are still the popular forms of content, which help engage with users the most.

Updates to Google’s advertising resources indicate that YouTube had 63.00 million users in Vietnam in early 2023. However, the company’s own data suggests that YouTube’s ad reach in early 2023 was equivalent to 63.9 percent of Vietnam’s total population at the start of the year. In addition, the most searched content on this platform is mostly related to music.

5. Mobile connections

Data from GSMA Intelligence shows that there were 161.6 million cellular mobile connections in Vietnam at the start of 2023. The number of mobile connections in Vietnam increased by 4.7 million (+3.0 percent) between 2022 and 2023. In addition, annual consumer spend on mobile apps and in-app purchases reached $505.9 million, which increased 21.6% compared to the previous year.

6. E-Commerce

The number of people purchasing consumer goods via the internet was 57.62 million, which increased 11.3% compared to the previous year. This led to $12.81 billion in total annual spend on online consumer goods purchases, with year-on-year change being 0.2 percent. The most purchased items in electronics, fashion, furniture, personal care, etc. Additionally, the most popular driver which encourages users to purchase online is free delivery. Other factors are reviews from other customers, coupons and discounts, easy returns policy, etc.

7. Conclusion

Through the Digital 2020 Vietnam report, Facebook is still the leading social platform that has the most effect on Vietnamese users. However, TikTok platform will be the challenger of Facebook where marketers should spend more of their time building brands and selling activities. Especially in the future, e-commerce will create more breakthroughs thanks to e-wallets and mobile phones, especially the growth potential of TikTok Shop.

Source: Data Reporter