Thailand vs Vietnam

Thailand cost of livingThailandVietnam cost of livingVietnam
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Thailand runs 102.5 men per 100 women aged 20โ€“39 against 100.4 in Vietnam. Visa-free entry is 60 days against 90. On the 15 measures both countries carry, Vietnam leads 7.

The difference at a glance

Green favours Vietnam. Country figures. Cities inside one country differ, often by more than the countries differ from each other.

Head to head

Each row is named for the thing more of which is better, so a longer bar always wins.

ThailandVietnam
102.5More women 20โ€“39men per 100 women, national census100.4
60Longer visa-free staydays, typical Western passport90
35%Lower income taxtop personal rate, not an effective rate35%
402More English spokenadult proficiency score500
4.8Saferhomicides per 100,000 a year1.5
76.6Longer life expectancyyears at birth74.7
$26,250RicherGDP per capita, current USD$18,088
54/100More politically stable0 to 10066/100
37/100Less corruption0 to 10043/100

Longer is better. Bar length is the rank among all countries we hold that measure for, not a share of the pair.

Every country measure, side by side

National figures throughout. What a city inside either country costs, and how its own sex ratio runs, is the table below this one.

National men per 100 womenthe city figure is above102.5100.42.1
Visa-free entrylongest headline entry for a typical Western passport609030 days
Top personal income tax rateheadline rate, not an effective rate35%35%0 points
English proficiencyadult proficiency score40250098 points
Homicide rateper 100,000 per year4.81.53.3
Life expectancyyears at birth76.674.71.8 years
GDP per capitacurrent USD$26,250$18,0881.45ร— as much
Female labour force participationno direction is asserted59%69%โ€”
Fertility ratebirths per woman1.201.90โ€”
Obesity, womenage-standardised19.6%2.4%17.2 points
Mean height, womenadults159 cm / 5โ€ฒ3โ€ณ158 cm / 5โ€ฒ2โ€ณโ€”
Political stability0 to 100, higher is more stable54/10066/10012 points
Low corruption0 to 100, higher is cleaner37/10043/1006 points
Digital nomad visamax stay; headline route, not a guarantee60 monthsn/aโ€”
Never-married women, 20โ€“39census or survey, years differ between countries33.1%19.7%โ€”
Main languagethe city may differThaiVietnameseโ€”

Data updated August 6, 2026.

Sex ratio by age

Men per 100 women in each five-year band, with 100 as parity. National census age×sex tables, which is the one figure on this page no cost-of-living site holds.

ThailandVietnam80901001101201520253035404550556065age band, lower boundmen per 100 women

Every city we track in both

A national sex ratio is an average of places that do not resemble each other. These are the cities behind it.

Thailand

CityMen/100 womenEssentials
Phuketdistrict level84.4$856
Pattayadistrict level88.0$694
Hua Hindistrict level92.0$671
Bangkokprovince level96.3$690
Chiang Raidistrict level97.5$393
Khon Kaendistrict level98.0
Chiang Maidistrict level102.7$565

Vietnam

CityMen/100 womenEssentials
Hanoiprovince level94.3$528
Ho Chi Minh Cityprovince level98.2$532
Hai Phongprovince level101.4$438
Da Nangprovince level101.9$583
Can Thoprovince level104.9$307
Nha Trangprovince level105.9$511
Da Latprovince level110.0$495

Thailand spans 18.3 points across its 7 tracked cities, Vietnam 15.7 across 7. The national figure is the average of neither.

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