Vietnam denies rumor of further mergers reducing number of provinces from 34 to 16

Phan Trung Tuan, head of the ministry’s Department of Local Government, told Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Monday that the Vietnamese Party, National Assembly, and government have no plan to continue consolidating provinces, cities, or commune-level units after the nationwide restructuring completed this year.

He emphasized that the major administrative reform carried out recently, which was aimed at streamlining the state apparatus, cutting payrolls, reducing budget costs, and creating new development space, was thoroughly researched and designed to ensure long-term stability in Vietnam’s administrative system.

According to Tuan, the ministry is drafting a new decree that will guide public consultations on establishing, dissolving, merging, splitting, adjusting boundaries, or renaming administrative units.

The new document will replace Decree 54/2018 and Decree 66/2023 to comply with updated provisions in the Law on Local Government Organization.

He stressed that the draft contains no annex listing any plan to reduce 34 provinces and cities to 16. 

Such an annex has been falsely spread on social media, he added.

The new decree is needed because Vietnam’s administrative structure has changed.

The system no longer includes the district level and now recognizes the commune-level special zone.

Existing decrees were built around the former three-tier structure of provinces, districts, and communes, making updates essential for consistent legal implementation.

Earlier this year, the country’s law-making National Assembly approved a resolution restructuring provincial-level units for 2025, resulting in 34 provincial-level units nationwide, including 28 provinces and six cities.

Eleven localities did not undergo mergers, while 52 former provinces and cities were reorganized into 23 new units.

Vietnam has also reduced commune-level administrative units from 10,035 to 3,321.

As of July 1 this year, Vietnam officially operates a two-tier local government system, consisting of province and commune/ward levels, without district-level administrations.