Vietnam Education Sector

For investors, the Asian EdTech market is one of the potential investment markets with strong growth.  The development of distance learning and EdTech in Southeast Asia has driven fast growth in Vietnam.

According to a recent report by Do Ventures, EdTech is the third most invested field in Vietnam in the past eight years in the technology sector. The total venture capital investment in Vietnam for EdTech is $103 million, just behind the payment field ($462 million) and retail ($416 million). However, the area of EdTech and the digital transformation of education in Vietnam is still at its early stages.

In 2019, Vietnam was in the top 10 fastest-growing online education markets globally, with an annual growth rate of 44.3%. Currently, there are more than 200 EdTech businesses in Vietnam, with 2 million users nationally. The market size is estimated at no less than US$2 billion.

In the early days, Vietnam’s EdTech market began with content-driven products. Users interact with pre-recorded lessons and educational games. In recent years, it is starting to shift to live-class segments, which enhances the interaction with an actual human being in one-on-one or group online classes with real teachers.

EdTech segments in Vietnam are varied: Early Childhood Education, Learning Management Systems, Broad Online Learning Platforms, Language Learning, Test Preparation, School Administration, etc. K-12 is likely the most favorable segment.

Vietnam has favorable conditions for the development of EdTech, such as a young population, a fast-growing economy, strong Government support, increasing educational expenses, good internet coverage, and a high percentage of smartphone users.

The increase of Government expenditure on education and training

The top three priorities of the Vietnamese government include the improvement of infrastructure, institutional reform, and human resources development. As part of this, improving domestic education is a top priority in various plans and the initiatives include ambitious goals, such as a ten percent annual increase in domestic university enrollment and developing a higher education system that is more in line with global standards. Because of this, the Vietnamese government has increased the budget allocations, liberalized private sector involvement, and encouraged foreign participation in developing education and training services.

Vietnam annually spent around 17%-18% of its total budget on education during 2011-2020, according to the newly released Vietnam Education Industry Analysis Report in 2011-2020 (Table 1). The expenditure on education has not reached the rate of 20% set in the Law on Education 2019 but is still higher or on par with some countries such as the United States (13%), Indonesia (17.5%), and Singapore (19.9%), said Professor Le Anh Vinh, rector of the Vietnam Institute of Education Sciences.

Table 1 - Vietnam Government Expenditures in Education and Training (Thousand USD)

High Internet Penetration
With high internet and smartphone penetration (Table 2 and Table 3), the improvement of internet infrastructure had built the road for the successful launch of E-learning and operation of EdTech platforms in Vietnam. Vietnamese mobile network operators such as Viettel and VNPT have been trying to expand internet coverage to mountainous hamlets so that students can access online study. Three major telecom providers, VNPT, MobiFone, and Viettel have been commercially trialing 5G services.

Table 2 - Internet Users (% of the population) from 2011 to 2020

Table 3 - Mobile Cellular Subscriptions from 2011 to 2020 

For more information, please contact:
Ms. Huong Nguyen, Commercial Assistant
U.S. Commercial Service Ho Chi Minh City, U.S. Consulate General in HCMC
E-mail: Huong.Nguyen@trade.gov

Ms. Ngan Thai, Commercial Assistant
U.S. Commercial Service Hanoi, U.S. Embassy in Hanoi
E-mail: Ngan.Thai@trade.gov