Wages and Lunar New Year bonuses on the rise

Wages and Lunar New Year bonuses on the rise

The average Lunar New Year bonus rose 13 per cent in 2026 as higher minimum wages and improved labour market conditions boosted incomes across state-owned, private and foreign-invested enterprises.

Pham Truong Giang, director general of the Department of Wages and Social Insurance under the Ministry of Home Affairs on February 4, revealed that the average Lunar New Year bonus paid by businesses approximated $348, representing an increase of 13 per cent compared to the previous Lunar New Year. State-owned enterprises recorded the sharpest rise, with bonuses up 23 per cent.

Giang stated that based on National Wage Council recommendations, the government passed Decree 293 in November, adjusting regional minimum wages upward by 7.2 per cent, effective from January 1, 2026.

The adjustment exceeded those of recent years. Specifically, the minimum wage increase in 2024 stood at 6 per cent, while the adjustment effective from January 1, 2026 reached 7.2 per cent.

“The early issuance of Decree 293 provided enterprises with sufficient time to prepare. Following the issuance of the decree, the Ministry of Home Affairs released two guiding documents to support implementation by enterprises and established inspection teams to oversee compliance,” he said.

The Ministry assessed the overall wage and bonus situation as positive. Accordingly, the average monthly wage of employees in 2025 approximated $390, up 11 per cent compared to 2024.

Among state-owned limited liability companies, the average monthly wage stood at approximately $515.60 per employee, an 18.2 per cent increase on-year.

At local private firms, the average monthly wage amounted to $346.40, up 7 per cent on-year.

For foreign-invested enterprises, the average monthly wage reached $406.80 per person, a 9.6 per cent increase.

Reports from more than 50,000 enterprises covering bonus plans for over 4.2 million workers showed that the average Tet bonus came to around $347.60, up 13 per cent compared with the previous Lunar New Year.

State-owned enterprises reported an average Lunar New Year bonus of approximately $377, an increase of 23 per cent on-year. At private firms, the average bonus stood at $294.80, up 9 per cent. At foreign-invested enterprises, the average bonus reached $368.40, up 12 per cent on-year.

Giang said that the government’s early issuance of Decree 293 and the synchronised implementation process had helped improve worker incomes, stabilise livelihoods, strengthen employee loyalty and reduce the risk of walk outs.

“For businesses, the reasonable wage increases and well-calibrated roadmap have created better conditions for fostering long-term engagement between employers and employees. This, in turn, has laid a foundation for improving labour productivity and generated important momentum to drive double-digit economic growth in 2026 and the years ahead,” he noted.

On February 4, the Ministry of Finance stated that Vietnam’s labour market in 2025 showed signs of improvement compared with the previous year. Notably, the number of people receiving unemployment benefits throughout the year fell by 12.8 per cent, while average wages rose by 10 per cent on-year.

y Anh Duc

VIR