Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification Updated for Administrative Purposes

On September 29, 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Ho Duc Phoc signed into effect Decision No. 36/2025/QD-TTg (“Decision 36”), which promulgates a new Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification (VSIC). Beyond statistical and administrative objectives, the revised VSIC carries practical compliance implications for enterprises operating in Vietnam.

Scope and application

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The updated framework governs activities related to state statistics, administrative registration, national databases, sectoral databases, and other relevant state management functions.

Effective November 15, 2025, the new VSIC aims to standardize government records and align Vietnam’s economic classification with international standards – an essential step for investors, analysts, and policymakers tracking sectoral performance.

Adjusted and newly added industry groups under the 2025 VSIC

Decision 36 represents a substantive modernization of Vietnam’s industry classification framework, improving alignment with evolving business models and international standards.

The adjustments to the framework provide enterprises, including foreign-invested companies, with greater clarity when registering business lines, reporting operations, and assessing regulatory applicability.

Purpose and criteria

The VSIC serves three key purposes:

• Ensuring consistency in state statistical operations;
• Supporting the development of administrative and national databases; and
• Providing a common basis for state management and policy formulation.

Under the framework, an economic sector is defined as a group of similar economic activities determined by three criteria, prioritized as follows:

• The production process of the activity;
• The input materials used to produce goods or services; and
• The characteristics of the output products.

Structure and coding

The new classification ensures that Vietnam’s sectoral structure accurately reflects all economic activities within its territory while remaining compatible with international comparison standards. It includes two main components:

• Appendix I: List of Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification; and
• Appendix II: Detailed structure of Vietnam Standard Industrial Classification.

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The classification is organized into five hierarchical levels:

• Level 1: 22 sectors, coded alphabetically from A to V;
• Level 2: 87 sectors, each corresponding to a Level 1 category and assigned two-digit codes (01–99);
• Level 3: 259 sectors, assigned three-digit codes (011–990);
• Level 4: 495 sectors, assigned four-digit codes (0111–9900); and
• Level 5: 743 sectors, assigned five-digit codes (01110–99000).

Each sector description specifies which activities are included and excluded:

• Included: Economic activities defined within the given sector; and
• Excluded: Activities that belong to other sectors.

Key classification principles for application

According to Appendix II of Decision 36, the 2025 VSIC categorizes economic activities based on the nature of the activity itself, not on ownership or organizational form. Therefore, businesses and analysts should take the following notes for their application.

Classification is independent of ownership or scale

Classification is not based on ownership type, organizational form, production method, or scale of operation. For example, all footwear manufacturing, whether state-owned or private, industrial or artisanal, large-scale or small, is classified under “Footwear manufacturing” (code 15200).

Economic sector vs. administrative sector

The economic sector refers to actual economic activities occurring within Vietnam’s territory, regardless of who manages them. In contrast, the administrative sector groups activities under a specific governing body (for example, a ministry or agency), regardless of their economic classification. Thus, one administrative sector may cover multiple economic sectors.

Economic sector vs. occupation

An economic sector reflects the nature of an establishment’s production or business activities, while an occupation describes an individual’s specific role or skill within that establishment. For example, an accountant working at a tobacco manufacturing company is classified under the tobacco manufacturing sector in economic terms, but their occupation remains accountant.

Implementation

The General Statistics Office (GSO) under the Ministry of Finance (MoF) is responsible for developing implementation materials and guidelines to ensure the consistent application of the new system nationwide. The ministry will also coordinate with relevant ministries, local authorities, and organizations to ensure compliance.

Strategic approach for businesses

With the updated VSIC, businesses may find that certain business lines previously registered under their Enterprise Registration Certificate (ERC) have been renamed, consolidated, subdivided, or removed under the new framework. In some cases, existing registrations may no longer fully align with the prevailing classification structure or current regulatory interpretation.

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In practice, companies are advised to:

• Review their currently registered business lines against the updated VSIC under Decision 36;
• Identify business lines that have been amended or replaced, as well as those that are no longer reflected in the new classification system; and
• Assess whether updates are required to ensure consistency with current regulations and administrative practice.

Based on Dezan Shira & Associates’ consultations with officials from the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Finance (DOF) and recent experience with enterprise registration procedures, updating business lines under Decision 36 is generally required only when a company carries out an amendment to its ERC that involves changes to its business activities. Where no such amendment is being made, a standalone request to update business lines solely to reflect the new VSIC is not typically mandatory.

Accordingly, companies can choose to combine VSIC-related updates with future ERC or Investment Registration Certificate (IRC) amendments, such as:

• Adding or removing business activities;
• Expanding operational scope;
• Adjusting investment projects; or
• Updating administrative information, including changes to administrative boundaries.

This approach allows businesses to remain compliant while minimizing administrative burden. However, companies operating in regulated or conditional sectors, or those planning to expand into newly defined industries under Decision 36, such as digital services, renewable energy, or financial technology, should conduct a more detailed review to ensure that their registered business lines accurately reflect their intended operations.

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