However, the country should pay more attention to health care and education, according to the report.

The report was completed within the framework of a joint project between the Vietnam Academy of Social Sciences and the UNDP from 2008 to 2011.

Addressing the launch ceremony, the UNDP Country Director for Vietnam, Setsuko Yamazaki, said Vietnam’s Human Development Index (HDI) in 2011 is similar to that of last year. Vietnam ranks 128^th out of 187 countries assessed in the survey.

Yamazaki underscored economic status, ethnic origin, and geographical and regional differences as main factors behind inequalities in Vietnam. All these elements, she said, are hampering Vietnam’s advancement towards a higher HDI.

The report may provide additional data for policymakers to make proper investment decisions in social affairs, at both the national and local level, to maximize Vietnam's human development potential.

Three major general indices employed as the foundation for the report’s analysis include the HDI, Gender-related Development Index (GDI), and Human Poverty Index (HPI).

In addition, the report introduced a new method to measure poverty and non-monetary shortages – the Multidimensional Poverty Index (MPI).

The report says Vietnam’s HDI increased by 11.8 percent. Half of this rise is attributed to income growth; the rest to longevity and education combined.

Regarding GDI, Vietnam saw a decline in its general gender gap. However, there was a higher gender equality gap in education for some poorer provinces and in income for some wealthier provinces in the south.

The GDI 2011 demonstrates that in Vietnam, multidimensionally poor Vietnamese people outnumbered poor people in terms of income. In 2008, the income poverty percentage was 14.5 percent while the multidimensional poverty figure stood at 23.3 percent.

The 2011 Vietnam Human Development Report also considers the relationship between public administration and the level of human development and points out challenges faced by many Vietnamese in accessing basic social services.