Vietnam Population and AIDS Indicator Survey 2005 ... - Measure DHS

asset information was collected in the VPAIS Household Questionnaire and covers information on
household ownership of a number of consumer items ranging from a television to a bicycle or car, as well
as dwelling characteristics such as source of drinking water, type of sanitation facilities, and type of
materials used in dwelling construction.
Each asset was assigned a weight (factor score) generated through principal component analysis,
and the resulting asset scores were standardized in relation to a standard normal distribution with a mean
of zero and standard deviation of one (Gwatkin et al., 2000). Each household was then assigned a score
for each asset, and the scores were summed for each household. Individuals were ranked according to the
total score of the household in which they resided. The sample was then divided into quintiles from one
(lowest wealth level) to five (highest wealth level).
Table 2.4 Wealth quintiles
Percent distribution of the de jure population by wealth quintiles, according to background characteristics,
Vietnam 2005
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Wealth quintile
Number of
Background ––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––– de jure
characteristic Lowest Second Middle Fourth Highest Total population 1
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Residence
Urban 2.8 4.6 7.9 24.2 60.6 100.0 5,169
Rural 24.3 23.8 22.8 19.0 10.1 100.0 21,545
Region
North 22.6 16.7 23.4 19.7 17.5 100.0 10,113
Central 16.5 26.6 23.2 19.8 14.0 100.0 7,096
South 20.3 18.8 13.8 20.3 26.9 100.0 9,506
Province
Ha Noi 0.3 2.4 10.0 20.6 66.7 100.0 871
Ho Chi Minh City 0.0 2.0 3.6 25.4 69.0 100.0 1,533
Hai Phong 1.9 16.9 24.5 28.3 28.5 100.0 567
Quang Ninh 14.2 14.8 15.5 21.6 33.9 100.0 361
Total 20.1 20.1 19.9 20.0 19.9 100.0 26,715
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1
Household members, i.e., usual residents
Table 2.4 clearly indicates that the urban population resides in the highest wealth quintiles while
the rural population does not. The vast majority of the urban population belongs to the fourth and highest
wealth quintile (85 percent). Half the rural population (48 percent) belongs to the second and lowest
wealth quintile. By region, it is not surprising to see that the South has the highest proportion of the
population in the highest wealth quintile (27 percent) as compared to the Central and North regions (about
15 percent). The South includes the provinces of the Southeast (namely, Ho Chi Minh city, Dong Nai,
Binh Duong and Ba Ria Vung Tau), which have seen the most rapid development of their economies over
the last two decades.
Comparing the targeted provinces, Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi have two-thirds of their
population in the highest wealth quintile (69 and 67 percent, respectively). Overall between the four
targeted provinces, HCMC has the greatest percentage of its population in the fourth and highest wealth
quintile (94 percent), followed by Hanoi (88 percent), with Hai Phong and Quang Ninh having lower
percentages in the highest wealth quintiles (57 and 56 percent, respectively).
Household Population and Housing Characteristics | 13