With a Vietnamese American population of over 2 million in the US, the “grass is greener” view is still powerful among many Vietnamese with relatives there. Here are the numbers from 2012 to 2021.

2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021

24,133 23,424 24,489 27,391 32,970 28,719 28,701 32,867 20,230 10,458

The total number of US-bound emigrants in the past decade is just over a quarter of a million (253,382, to be exact), a drop in the statistical bucket considering that Vietnam’s current population is nearly 100 million. It’s the 15th most populous country in the world.

At the same time, increasing numbers of Vietnamese Americans and other overseas Vietnamese, mostly but not exclusively young people, are migrating to Vietnam to take advantage of unprecedented economic opportunities and for various personal reasons. This is good news for Vietnam.

Shalom (שלום), MAA