The country faced an unprecedented series of natural disasters in 2025, including 15 storms and six tropical depressions, breaking previous records set in 2017.
As expected, the agricultural sector endured some of the most significant damages.
According to the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment (MAE), over 545,000 hectares of rice and other crops inundated and damaged.
The disasters also claimed the lives of millions of poultry, as well as tens of thousands of livestock.
Aquaculture facilities also suffered heavily, with hundreds of thousands of cages and rafts destroyed across affected regions.
Additionally, infrastructure that supported agriculture was also damaged by the extreme weather.
More than 1,000 km of dykes, embankments, and canals, along with over 1,200 km of roads, were impacted
This complicated relief efforts and slowed post-disaster recovery. Prolonged flooding affected both urban and rural areas, further disrupting farming activities and local economies.
The MAE highlighted that these losses and damages have placed enormous pressure on rural communities, threatening livelihoods and food security.
Total economic losses from the disasters are over VND 98.677bn – around U$ 3.9bn to U$4 bn – according to the Department of Dyke Management and Natural Disaster Prevention and Control, an office under MAE.
Officials warned that rebuilding agricultural capacity and restoring livelihoods would require significant investment and coordinated national support moving forward.
Safeguarding agriculture growth
Vietnam’s push to become a high-income developed country by 2045 will hinge on science, technology, innovation, and digital transformation, with agriculture expected to play a leading role.
The report of these losses followed the government’s emphasis on the role of agriculture as a strategic pillar of Vietnam’s economy and a long-term growth driver in the face increasingly severe climate impacts.
During the 2025 Dialogue Conference with Farmers in December, Prime Minister Pham Minh Chinh said disaster prevention, response, and recovery must be treated as long-term priorities.
He emphasised this as the country pushes agriculture export expansion markets to reach its goal of U$100bn in in agricultural export turnover.
In addition to diversifying markets and supply chains to reduce reliance on traditional export the country is working to strengthen production, processing, and distribution domestically.
Investments in transport and strategic infrastructure, which currently account for around half of state development spending, are expected to help lower logistics costs and improve the competitiveness of agricultural goods.
The government is also pushing to expand export markets for agricultural products. To date, Vietnam has signed 17 free trade agreements with more than 60 economies.
