Vietnamese authorities have reported a broad decline in criminal activity in 2025, though lawmakers warn that fraud, counterfeit goods and other complex violations are rising and pose serious challenges. The findings were presented during a plenary session of the National Assembly’s (NA) 10th sitting in Hanoi on Tuesday, where government officials and the NA’s Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs delivered assessments of nationwide crime trends.
Government data show that most major crime indicators dropped compared with the same period in 2024. Crimes against social order fell by more than 12%, with significant reductions in serious and very serious offences. Police conducted nine extensive nationwide operations to suppress crime, achieving an overall case-clearance rate of more than 81%. Clearance rates were especially strong for grave offences, reaching 93.25% for very serious cases and 95.16% for especially serious incidents, exceeding the NA’s targets.
Authorities also recorded notable decreases in economic offences and corruption-related crimes, which fell by nearly 29% and 18% respectively. Environmental crimes and food safety violations declined by 48.17%, attributed to intensified inspections in waste management, forest protection and food safety oversight. Crimes involving information technology and telecommunications dropped by 11.53% as inter-sectoral operations targeted online scams, expanded authentication services and blocked access to illicit websites and social media accounts.
Drug-related crimes also declined, down 18.29%. Police officials said efforts had focused on major trafficking routes, tighter control of narcotic medicines and closer supervision of drug users, addicts and people undergoing post-rehabilitation monitoring.
Minister of Public Security Lương Tam Quang said these improvements reflected strengthened enforcement and accelerated investigations into high-profile cases. However, he acknowledged shortcomings such as the rate of resolving crime reports and prosecution requests, which had yet to meet NA goals. Administrative violations also remained widespread.
Hoàng Thanh Tùng, chairman of the NA’s Committee on Legal and Judicial Affairs, agreed that overall crime and violations had fallen—down 19.18% year-on-year—but warned that worrying trends were emerging. Fraud and property appropriation cases increased by 11.76%, public order disturbances rose by 21.83% and the production and sale of counterfeit goods surged by 47.17%. He also noted that drug-related crime remained highly complex and large-scale, and food safety violations continued to threaten public health. Some officials, he said, had even been implicated in shielding offenders under the guise of legitimate business operations.
Another report from Government Inspector-General Đoàn Hồng Phong highlighted continued progress in the anti-corruption campaign but pointed to structural constraints. Inspections uncovered more than VNĐ230 trillion (US$8.7 billion) in economic violations, along with 75 hectares of land involved in wrongdoing. Authorities transferred 236 cases involving 140 people to investigation agencies. Inspectors completed major probes—including reviews of stalled infrastructure projects and two major hospital expansions—within accelerated time frames following directives from national leadership.
Nevertheless, Phong acknowledged slow legal reforms, incomplete preventive measures and significant obstacles in recovering misappropriated assets, particularly in cases involving suspects who fled abroad.
Looking ahead to 2026, Minister Quang said the government would overhaul legal frameworks to align with reorganised police and investigative bodies, expand digital public services under Project 06, advance work on a National Data Centre and strengthen local law enforcement capacity through personnel reallocation.
