Rich-Poor Gap in Vietnam Widen to 9.2 Times

The income gap between the richest and poorest groups in Vietnam rose to 9.2 times last year from 8.9 times in 2008, state media reported, citing the government’s General Statistics Office (GSO).
Last year, a personal average income of the richest bracket was VND3.4 million while that of the poorest was just VND369,000, a latest survey on household living conditions by the office revealed.  The survey added that Vietnam’s income per capita in 2010 amounted to VND1.387 million ($66.7) per month. Every Vietnamese household had to spend up to 53% of their total income on food and beverage during the year. There spending on education surged by 64% from 2008. There was a great difference in spending between the richest and poorest. The wealthy people spent 3.8 times higher in healthcare than the lowest incomers. The spending gap in education was much higher, at six times, while the rate in culture, sports and entertainment was even extremely high, at 131 times. Of the survey’s respondents, 6.2% said their living conditions became more difficult last year than that in 2008, 11.3% said it kept unchanged. Meanwhile, the remaining respondents told their life was better than two years ago. In 2010, Vietnam’s Gini-coefficient-a measure of how wealth is distributed in a society – stood at 0.43, unchanged from 2008. A Gini-coefficient of 0 suggests total equality, while a value of 1 extreme inequality. A Gini-coefficient of 0.4 is generally regarded as the international warning level for dangerous levels of inequality, the GSO said. (Tuoi Tre – Youth June 30, An Ninh Thu Do – Capital Security July 01 p2)