The retirement age in Vietnam is not one number. Since 2021 it has gone up a little every year, and the age that applies to you depends on the year in which you retire, which in turn depends on your month of birth. People born in the same year can retire at different ages, which is why the question "when will I retire?" is so often asked and so often answered wrongly. This article lays out the roadmap, explains the month rule with a worked example, gives the full tables by year of birth and says what the rules do not cover. You can check any case with the retirement age calculator, which shows the roadmap row it used so you can verify it.
The figures are checked as of 15 October 2026 against summaries of the Labour Code 2019 (article 169) and Decree 135/2020/ND-CP (articles 4, 5 and 7, appendix I), not against the official gazette text itself. They describe normal working conditions. This is a reference, not legal advice: the exact date for a real person is set by the social insurance office (BHXH) and the employer.
The short answer for 2026
In normal working conditions, a man who retires in 2026 does so at 61 years 6 months, and a woman at 57 years. That means men born between October 1964 and June 1965 retire during 2026, and women born between May 1969 and December 1969. The age keeps rising until men reach 62 in 2028 and women reach 60 in 2035, and then it stays there.
The roadmap by year of retirement
Men go up by 3 months a year, women by 4 months a year.
| Year of retirement | Men | Women |
|---|---|---|
| Before 2021 | 60 years | 55 years |
| 2021 | 60 years 3 months | 55 years 4 months |
| 2022 | 60 years 6 months | 55 years 8 months |
| 2023 | 60 years 9 months | 56 years |
| 2024 | 61 years | 56 years 4 months |
| 2025 | 61 years 3 months | 56 years 8 months |
| 2026 | 61 years 6 months | 57 years |
| 2027 | 61 years 9 months | 57 years 4 months |
| 2028 | 62 years | 57 years 8 months |
| 2029 | 62 years | 58 years |
| 2030 | 62 years | 58 years 4 months |
| 2031 | 62 years | 58 years 8 months |
| 2032 | 62 years | 59 years |
| 2033 | 62 years | 59 years 4 months |
| 2034 | 62 years | 59 years 8 months |
| 2035 and later | 62 years | 60 years |
The retirement time and the pension start
The retirement time is the end of the last day of the month in which you reach the retirement age, and the pension starts on the first day of the next month. Only the month counts, never the day: a person born on 29 February or on the 31st is treated as born in that month. If you only know the year of birth, the calculator uses 1 January of that year, and your real month can move the result by up to a year.
Why the birth month decides
The age in the table applies in the year of retirement. So for each year the question is: if I use that year's age, does the month I reach it fall inside that same year? Take a man born in March 1966.
- With the 2027 age, 61 years 9 months: March 1966 plus 61 years 9 months is December 2027, inside 2027. The row fits.
- With the 2028 age, 62 years: March 1966 plus 62 years is March 2028, inside 2028 as well.
Both rows fit, and the earlier one wins, because by the time the later row would apply he has already reached the earlier age. He retires at the end of 31 December 2027, and the pension starts on 1 January 2028. For a man born in April 1966, April 1966 plus 61 years 9 months is January 2028, outside 2027, so the 2028 row applies to him and he retires at exactly 62, in April 2028.
The same logic gives women born in May 1975 or later exactly 60 years, while a woman born in January 1975 retires at 59 years 8 months, in September 2034. That is why the tables below split a birth year into runs of months.
Men by year of birth
Men born in 1960 or earlier retire at 60. For 1967 and later, men retire at 62 years, in the same month as the birth month plus 62 years.
| Born in | Birth months | Retirement age | Retires in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1961 | 1-9 | 60 years 3 months | 4/2021 - 12/2021 |
| 1961 | 10-12 | 60 years 6 months | 4/2022 - 6/2022 |
| 1962 | 1-6 | 60 years 6 months | 7/2022 - 12/2022 |
| 1962 | 7-12 | 60 years 9 months | 4/2023 - 9/2023 |
| 1963 | 1-3 | 60 years 9 months | 10/2023 - 12/2023 |
| 1963 | 4-12 | 61 years | 4/2024 - 12/2024 |
| 1964 | 1-9 | 61 years 3 months | 4/2025 - 12/2025 |
| 1964 | 10-12 | 61 years 6 months | 4/2026 - 6/2026 |
| 1965 | 1-6 | 61 years 6 months | 7/2026 - 12/2026 |
| 1965 | 7-12 | 61 years 9 months | 4/2027 - 9/2027 |
| 1966 | 1-3 | 61 years 9 months | 10/2027 - 12/2027 |
| 1966 | 4-12 | 62 years | 4/2028 - 12/2028 |
Women by year of birth
Women born in 1965 or earlier retire at 55 (women born in December 1965 retire at the end of 31 December 2020). For 1976 and later, women retire at 60 years, in the birth month plus 60 years.
| Born in | Birth months | Retirement age | Retires in |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1966 | 1-8 | 55 years 4 months | 5/2021 - 12/2021 |
| 1966 | 9-12 | 55 years 8 months | 5/2022 - 8/2022 |
| 1967 | 1-4 | 55 years 8 months | 9/2022 - 12/2022 |
| 1967 | 5-12 | 56 years | 5/2023 - 12/2023 |
| 1968 | 1-8 | 56 years 4 months | 5/2024 - 12/2024 |
| 1968 | 9-12 | 56 years 8 months | 5/2025 - 8/2025 |
| 1969 | 1-4 | 56 years 8 months | 9/2025 - 12/2025 |
| 1969 | 5-12 | 57 years | 5/2026 - 12/2026 |
| 1970 | 1-8 | 57 years 4 months | 5/2027 - 12/2027 |
| 1970 | 9-12 | 57 years 8 months | 5/2028 - 8/2028 |
| 1971 | 1-4 | 57 years 8 months | 9/2028 - 12/2028 |
| 1971 | 5-12 | 58 years | 5/2029 - 12/2029 |
| 1972 | 1-8 | 58 years 4 months | 5/2030 - 12/2030 |
| 1972 | 9-12 | 58 years 8 months | 5/2031 - 8/2031 |
| 1973 | 1-4 | 58 years 8 months | 9/2031 - 12/2031 |
| 1973 | 5-12 | 59 years | 5/2032 - 12/2032 |
| 1974 | 1-8 | 59 years 4 months | 5/2033 - 12/2033 |
| 1974 | 9-12 | 59 years 8 months | 5/2034 - 8/2034 |
| 1975 | 1-4 | 59 years 8 months | 9/2034 - 12/2034 |
| 1975 | 5-12 | 60 years | 5/2035 - 12/2035 |
The calculator shows the same table for every birth year from 1961 to 2000, built by the same function as its result.
The 2020 transition
Before 2021 the retirement age was 60 for men and 55 for women. Under the transition rule (Decree 135/2020, article 7, clause 2), a man born in December 1960 and a woman born in December 1965 retire at the end of 31 December 2020 and receive the pension from 1 January 2021. Everyone born later follows the roadmap above.
Heavy, hazardous or dangerous work
People in heavy, hazardous or dangerous jobs, in especially hazardous conditions, or in areas with especially difficult socio-economic conditions can retire up to 5 years earlier than the normal age (Labour Code 2019, article 169, clause 3; Decree 135/2020, article 5), with at least 15 years in such work. The calculator shows this as the earliest possible date, from 0 to 5 years before the normal retirement month. Which jobs and areas count is defined by official lists, and your employer and BHXH confirm the exact age, so treat the result as a lower bound.
What the rules above do not tell you
- Contribution years and pension amounts. To receive a pension you also need enough years of social insurance contributions, and the amount depends on your record. These rules changed with the 2024 Social Insurance Law, and this article and the calculator deliberately do not state them: ask BHXH what applies to you.
- Groups with their own rules. The armed forces, public officials and some other groups, and special cases of retiring later or earlier, follow separate regulations.
- Future changes. A retirement age that has been revised once can be revised again. Check the date at the top of this article.
How to check your date
- Enter your sex and date of birth in the retirement age calculator and read the "How it is worked out" list.
- Compare the birth month and the row with the tables above.
- Ask BHXH or your employer's HR to confirm the date from your own record, and keep any decision letter.
To count your exact age in years, months and days, use the age calculator.