The water
Bottled water; ice in cafes is factory-made and generally safe. Tap water: Not drinkable.
Vietnam
Hang Son Doong, the largest cave passage on Earth, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
RegionAsiaCurrencyVNDPowerType A/B/C, 220V (varies)Tap waterNot drinkable
Good
Eco Index
What to expect on the ground
At a glance
Food & farming
Vietnam is one of the world's top three rice exporters and an agricultural powerhouse, with intensive smallholder farming of rice, vegetables, coffee, fruit and aquaculture. It is strongly self sufficient in staples and food…Read more
Vietnam is one of the world's top three rice exporters and an agricultural powerhouse, with intensive smallholder farming of rice, vegetables, coffee, fruit and aquaculture. It is strongly self sufficient in staples and food import dependence is low.
Local staples
Rice, fresh herbs and greens, tofu, morning glory, noodles and tropical fruit
Markets
Daily wet markets; the Cai Rang floating market at dawn; ethnic minority markets such as Bac Ha on Sundays
In season
Two to three rice harvests a year; the northern terraces turn gold in September to October
Wildlife
Vietnam lies in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and holds remarkable endemics, including the saola, the Cat Ba and Delacour's langurs and the grey shanked douc, with 1,053 IUCN threatened species (2023). The tragedy is that…Read more
Vietnam lies in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and holds remarkable endemics, including the saola, the Cat Ba and Delacour's langurs and the grey shanked douc, with 1,053 IUCN threatened species (2023). The tragedy is that these populations are collapsing under snaring and trafficking, and the Javan rhino was declared extinct in the country in 2010.
Found nowhere else
The saola, grey shanked douc, Cat Ba langur and Delacour's langur
Natural phenomena
North has four seasons; the centre has a distinct storm window Sep–Nov; the south is wet May–Oct.
When to go
The dry season, but the climate splits sharply north, central and south
Getting around
Cheap domestic flights, the reunification railway, sleeper buses and Grab motorbikes and taxis
Good to know
Cash in the provinces, cards in cities; VND. Crossing streets is an art.
Safety
Solo female travel: Easy. LGBTQ+: Mixed.
Only hereHang Son Doong, the largest cave passage on Earth, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
Assessed across 10 equally-weighted pillars
The Eco Index, pillar by pillar
65/100
Good
The Eco Index: Vietnam
12 pillars, equally weighted, from published sources. All 12 assessed. Blanks mean unverified, never estimated.
Only here Hang Son Doong, the largest cave passage on Earth, in Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park
- Forest cover
- 47.4%
- Land protected
- 7.6%
- Sea protected
- 0.5%
- Organic farmland
- 0.5%
- Threatened species
- 1053
- Found nowhere else
- The saola, grey shanked douc, Cat Ba langur and Delacour's langur
- Renewable power
- 41.2%
- CO2 per person
- 3.67 t (2024) t
- Air quality (AQI)
- 24.8
- Cleanest air
- The northern highlands and central coast national parks
- Water from
- Bottled water; ice in cafes is factory-made and generally safe.
- Tap water
- Not drinkable
- Safe drinking water
- 58.6%
- Cleanest water
- The Phong Nha rivers and the Con Dao islands
- Springs
- Hot springs at Thap Ba near Nha Trang and at Kim Boi
- In season
- Two to three rice harvests a year; the northern terraces turn gold in September to October
- Plastic ban
- National plastic waste action plan with reduction targets; no comprehensive ban yet
- Watch out for
- Urban traffic smog in Hanoi and coastal industrial zones
- Solo female travel
- Easy
- LGBTQ+ acceptance
- Mixed
- Best months
- February to April and October to November, varying by region
- Getting around
- Cheap domestic flights, the reunification railway, sleeper buses and Grab motorbikes and taxis
- Power
- Type A/B/C, 220V (varies)
- Currency
- VND
| Pillar | Score | What we found |
|---|---|---|
| WaterWhere the water comes from, and whether there is enough of it | 2/5 | Vietnam has abundant surface water from the Mekong and Red River deltas and heavy monsoon rainfall, but safe access lags: only about 59% of people have safely managed drinking water (World … Full assessmentank and JMP, 2024) and tap water is not safe to drink. The Mekong Delta, the country's rice bowl, faces worsening saltwater intrusion, land subsidence and reduced flows from upstream dams. |
| Food and farmingWhat the island actually grows, and what arrives by boat | 5/5 | Vietnam is one of the world's top three rice exporters and an agricultural powerhouse, with intensive smallholder farming of rice, vegetables, coffee, fruit and aquaculture. Full assessmentIt is strongly self sufficient in staples and food import dependence is low. |
| Plant based and real foodWhether you can eat unprocessed from local supply | 5/5 | Vietnam has one of Asia's easiest plant based food cultures. Full assessmentA deep Buddhist vegetarian tradition, com chay, means dedicated vegetarian eateries are common, especially near temples and on lunar days, and everyday cooking is rich in fresh herbs, greens, tofu and rice. Unprocessed plant food is cheap and everywhere. |
| OrganicCertified and chemical free growing, which is not the same thing as plant based | 2/5 | Certified organic farmland is about 0.5% of agricultural land (FiBL, 2020). Full assessmentA participatory guarantee system for organic produce is growing around the cities, but certified area remains small. |
| ConservationWhat is protected, and whether protection is enforced | 2/5 | Only about 7.6% of land and 0.5% of seas are protected (World Bank, 2025), and enforcement is weak. Full assessmentIndustrial scale snaring and the wildlife trade have hollowed out even protected forests, a problem conservationists call empty forest syndrome. |
| Wildlife and endemicsWhat lives here and nowhere else on earth | 3/5 | Vietnam lies in the Indo-Burma biodiversity hotspot and holds remarkable endemics, including the saola, the Cat Ba and Delacour's langurs and the grey shanked douc, with 1,053 IUCN threaten… Full assessmentd species (2023). The tragedy is that these populations are collapsing under snaring and trafficking, and the Javan rhino was declared extinct in the country in 2010. |
| Natural materialsWhat you can eat from and carry here instead of plastic, and who still makes it | 4/5 | Vietnam has a rich living natural fibre culture: mulberry silk weaving, bamboo and rattan, water hyacinth and seagrass basketry, the palm leaf conical hat and Hmong hemp dyed with indigo. Full assessmentThese crafts remain in everyday production, not just for tourists. |
| Pollution and plasticPlastic law and contamination | 2/5 | Air pollution is a real problem, with a PM2.5 annual mean around 25 micrograms per cubic metre nationally and far higher in Hanoi during winter (World Bank, 2023). Full assessmentVietnam is also among the largest emitters of ocean plastic; it has a national plastic action plan with reduction targets, but enforcement is limited and single use plastic is pervasive. |
| Recycling and wasteWhat actually happens to the rubbish once you have thrown it away | 2/5 | There is no reliable municipal recycling rate. Full assessmentRecycling is dominated by the informal sector, including waste pickers and specialised craft villages that reprocess plastics, metal and paper, often in polluting conditions. |
| Energy and climateClean power, carbon emissions per person and the pace of decarbonisation | 3/5 | Vietnam's low emissions belie a coal-heavy grid: coal supplies close to half of electricity, though a rapid solar boom (over 18 GW installed) and large hydropower push low-carbon sources to… Full assessmentmore than a third of generation. Territorial CO2 emissions are about 3.67 tonnes per person (2024), below the world average. The country has pledged net zero by 2050 and signed a Just Energy Transition Partnership mobilising an initial 15.5 billion US dollars to move away from coal and cap coal capacity. Genuine ambition and strong renewables potential are offset by continued coal reliance, keeping the score in the moderate band. |
| Culture and peopleIndigenous and living communities, and who the money reaches | 4/5 | Vietnam recognises 54 ethnic groups, and living hill communities such as the Hmong, Tay and Dao anchor genuine community based tourism and homestays in Sapa, Mai Chau and Ha Giang. Full assessmentSome hill tribe tourism is commodified and unevenly rewarded, which keeps this just short of the top band. |
| Living heritage and ancestral traditionsNational dance and music, and the ancestral and spiritual traditions still practised | 5/5 | Vietnam sustains an unusually rich living heritage. Full assessmentWater puppetry and lion and dragon dance sit alongside a remarkable set of UNESCO-listed music forms, including Nha nhac Hue royal court music, Ca tru sung poetry, Quan ho love duets and southern Don ca tai tu chamber music. Ancestral traditions are central to daily life, from ancestor veneration in every home to Dao Mau Mother Goddess worship with its len dong spirit mediumship and the Hung Kings commemoration. The Space of Gong Culture of the Central Highlands and the living practices of 54 ethnic groups round out a deep and continuous tradition. |
Before you go
Cash in the provinces, cards in cities; VND. Crossing streets is an art.
Where these figures come from
- World Bank, Forest area (% of land area) AG.LND.FRST.ZS, 2023 source
- World Bank, Terrestrial protected areas (% of land area) ER.LND.PTLD.ZS, 2025 source
- World Bank, Marine protected areas (% of territorial waters) ER.MRN.PTMR.ZS, 2025 source
- World Bank, Renewable electricity output (% of total) EG.ELC.RNEW.ZS, 2021 source
- World Bank / WHO-UNICEF JMP, People using safely managed drinking water services (%) SH.H2O.SMDW.ZS, 2024 source
- World Bank, PM2.5 mean annual exposure (micrograms per cubic metre) EN.ATM.PM25.MC.M3, 2023 source
- FiBL, The World of Organic Agriculture (via List of countries by organic farmland), 2020 source
- UN Statistics Division, Statistical Yearbook 2024 (68th issue), Threatened species table (source: IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, accessed June 2025), 2023 figures source
- FAO and USDA, Vietnam among the top three global rice exporters source
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, Phong Nha-Ke Bang National Park (Hang Son Doong) source
- Our World in Data, CO2 emissions per capita (Global Carbon Project), 2024 source
- IEA, Viet Nam country profile, 2023 source
- Vietnam Just Energy Transition Partnership joint statement, 2022 source
- UNESCO, Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage, Viet Nam source
Living heritage and ancestral traditions
The culture still danced, played and believed
Vietnam sustains an unusually rich living heritage. Water puppetry and lion and dragon dance sit alongside a remarkable set of UNESCO-listed music forms, including Nha nhac Hue royal court music, Ca tru sung poetry, Quan ho love duets and southern Don ca tai tu chamber music. Ancestral traditions are central to daily life, from ancestor veneration in every home to Dao Mau Mother Goddess worship with its len dong spirit mediumship and the Hung Kings commemoration. The Space of Gong Culture of the Central Highlands and the living practices of 54 ethnic groups round out a deep and continuous tradition.
- Water puppetry (mua roi nuoc) and lion and dragon dance
- UNESCO-listed Nha nhac Hue court music, Ca tru sung poetry, Quan ho love duets and Don ca tai tu chamber music
- the Space of Gong Culture of the Central Highlands
- ancestor veneration and Dao Mau Mother Goddess worship with len dong spirit mediumship
- Hung Kings commemoration
- the living traditions of 54 ethnic groups.
Sleep well, tread lightly
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