[1][14] The census recorded a resident population of 96,208,984, an increase of 10.4 million people after 10 years; the growth rate was lower than the preceding decade and the sex ratio at birth was highly skewed towards boys.

[15][16] In 1961, faced with a population growth rate of 4% and a fertility rate of more than 6 children per woman,[17] the government of Vietnam issued a directive on controlled childbearing, making Vietnam one of the first countries in the region to impose state-mandated family planning.

[19] In 2003 the government relaxed its childbearing controls, allowing couples to decide how many children to have and when and resulting in a renewed rise in the fertility rate.

[20][21] In 2009, due to the increased fertility rate, the government changed its policy to recommend that each couple have 1–2 children.

[25][26][27] The results also provided an important basis for formulating and planning socio-economic development policies in the future.

The census offered two response options: direct (face-to-face interview) and indirect (online).

[33][34] The census covered all Vietnamese people residing in the territory of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam up to the time of the census and all Vietnamese people allowed to go abroad by the authorities, as well as recording all deaths from 16 February 2018 (the first day of the Lunar New Year) to 31 March 2019, and gathering housing information.

[30][35] Along with the widespread use of information technology, other changes of the 2019 census included the use of two-stage stratified sampling (which ensured the representativeness of the indicators to the district level), the inclusion of sustainable development goals in the questionnaires, and an improved process of drawing commune and ward base maps and dividing enumeration areas.

[36] Later that year, the General Statistics Office collaborated with the United Nations Population Fund to organize a workshop.

[36] In September, census rehearsals had begun, and by November the Ministries of Public Security, Defense, Foreign Affairs and authorities at all levels had all established steering committees.

[9][25] In the last two months of 2018, surveyors were sent to record the number of people in households and introduced Internet response option.

Residents preferring the Internet option provided phone numbers and received account name and password for authentication on 31 March 2019.

[14][51] On census reference day, 1 April 2019, Vietnam had a population of 96,208,984 people, mostly concentrated in the Red River Delta and the Southeast region.

The total fertility rate was highest in the Northern midlands and mountainous and Central Highlands regions, while the Southeast and Mekong River Delta area had the lowest.

Early adolescent childbearing still existed, most prevalently in the Northern midlands and mountainous and Central Highlands region.

Because of economic restructuring, for the first time, the number of workers in the service sector was higher than those in agriculture, forestry and fishing industry.

[62][63] For comparison, according to the Department of Construction of Ho Chi Minh City, there were about 476,000 households either not having a house or currently living with relatives — 12,000 times higher than the figures of the Statistics Office.

For example, the government of Cần Giờ District believed that, due to not fully understanding the employment characteristics and work environment of some residents, the Statistics Office miscalculated the number of households without dwellings in the district as these households already had dwellings in other localities.

[64] In addition, the official estimate of the population of Ho Chi Minh City raised some doubt.

[62] Some also compared it to the figure released by Ho Chi Minh City Public Security Department, which was nearly 13 million people.