Vientiane Capital is Laos’s principal urban and administrative center. Available figures describe a municipality of 698,318 people across 5,691 square kilometers, alongside recent indicators on household services, health, education, technology and economic performance. The measures below refer specifically to Vientiane Capital or Vientiane Municipality, depending on the source and indicator.
Contents
- At a glance
- Population, area and economy
- Technology, literacy and family setting
- Child health, nutrition and protection
- Water, sanitation and hygiene
- Maternal and newborn health
- Education and learning
At a glance
The World Bank report on Lao urban areas records 698,318 residents in Vientiane Municipality, a land area of 5,691 square kilometers, and a population density of 122.7 people per square kilometer. The municipality has 9 districts and 492 villages.
The UNICEF Lao Social Indicator Survey 2023 provincial profile reports high mobile-phone ownership among adults aged 15–49: 98% for women and 99% for men in Vientiane Capital. It also reports literacy rates of 90% for women and 98% for men in the same age group. These are survey indicators for defined age groups, rather than measures of the entire population.
The latest economic figures supplied by KPL, dated September 25, 2025, state that Vientiane Capital’s economy grew at an average annual rate of 5.34% over 2021–2025. Total GDP reached 89,278.8 billion kip in 2025, while GDP per capita reached 85.17 million kip.
Population, area and economy
The municipality’s 698,318 residents are distributed over 5,691 square kilometers. The reported density is 122.7 people per square kilometer. Administrative scale is represented by 9 districts and 492 villages, according to the World Bank report on Lao urban areas.
KPL’s September 25, 2025 report gives an average annual economic growth rate of 5.34% for 2021–2025. Its 2025 figures put total GDP at 89,278.8 billion kip and GDP per capita at 85.17 million kip. The GDP and GDP-per-capita values are 2025 levels; the growth figure is an average for the five-year period.
The reported economic structure changed during 2021–2025:
| Sector | 2021 share | 2025 share | Reported direction |
|---|---|---|---|
| Agriculture | 14.3% | 13% | Decreased |
| Industry | 49.5% | 49% | Decreased slightly |
| Services | 36.2% | 38% | Increased |
Industry remained the largest listed sector at both endpoints, while services rose from 36.2% to 38%. Agriculture’s share fell from 14.3% to 13%, and industry’s share fell from 49.5% to 49%. These are changes in economic structure, not direct measures of sector output.
Technology, literacy and family setting
Among women aged 15–49, the UNICEF Lao Social Indicator Survey 2023 provincial profile reports 90% literacy, 75% media access, 72% internet use and 98% mobile-phone ownership. Among men aged 15–49, the corresponding figures are 98% literacy, 79% media access, 72% internet use is not reported in the supplied profile, and 99% mobile-phone ownership. The available male indicators therefore show a 19-percentage-point difference between literacy and mobile-phone ownership, while the women’s figures show a 8-point difference between literacy and mobile ownership.
For children, internet use is reported at 34% among those aged 5–17 and 33% among children under age 5. These measures use different age ranges from the adult indicators and should not be read as a single population-wide internet-use rate.
The same UNICEF profile describes children aged 0–17 by living arrangement: 78% live with both biological parents, 18% live with their mother only, 2% with their father only, and 1% with neither biological parent. The reported categories do not sum to 100%, so they should be treated as the supplied estimates rather than recalculated.
Household protection against malaria is limited in the reported measure: 6% of households have at least one insecticide-treated net. Among women aged 20–24, 1% were married or in a union before age 15, and 11% before age 18.
Child health, nutrition and protection
The UNICEF profile reports an under-5 mortality rate of 9 per 1,000 live births and a neonatal mortality rate of 7 per 1,000 live births in Vientiane Capital. The reported child mortality rate is 0 per 1,000 live births. These are separate mortality measures with different definitions; the figures should not be combined.
Immunization coverage is reported at 50% for basic immunization among children aged 12–23 months and 44% for full immunization among children aged 24–35 months. The age bands differ, so the two percentages are not a before-and-after series.
Nutrition indicators for children aged 6–23 months include 85% meeting minimum meal frequency, 67% meeting minimum diet diversity and 60% meeting the minimum acceptable diet. Egg and/or flesh food consumption is reported at 89%, while unhealthy food consumption is 22%.
Among children under age 5, the profile reports 18% stunting, 14% underweight, 13% wasting and 6% overweight. These are distinct anthropometric indicators and can describe different children or conditions within the same age group.
Early childhood measures include 50% of children aged 2–4 receiving early stimulation and responsive care, and 60% of children aged 3–4 on track in at least three developmental domains. Birth registration among children under age 5 is 60%.
Discipline indicators for children aged 1–14 show 53% experiencing any violent discipline, 32% physical punishment, 43% psychological aggression and 37% non-violent discipline. Child labour among children aged 5–17 is reported at 9%. Because these discipline categories can overlap, their percentages should not be added.
Water, sanitation and hygiene
The UNICEF Lao Social Indicator Survey 2023 provincial profile reports 99% coverage for an improved drinking-water source in Vientiane Capital. Safely managed drinking-water coverage is lower at 53%. Drinking water is reported as available on premises for 100% of households and available when needed for 100%.
Water quality is measured separately: 54% of drinking water is reported free from E. coli contamination. The difference between improved-source coverage and safely managed coverage illustrates why source type, service level and tested quality are separate indicators.
Onsite sanitation facility coverage is 83%, while sewer connection coverage is 3%. Shared sanitation coverage is reported at 0%, and open defecation prevalence is less than 1%.
For menstrual hygiene, 79% of women aged 15–49 have both a private place to wash and change at home and appropriate menstrual hygiene materials. This combined measure applies to a defined adult female age group, not to all residents.
Maternal and newborn health
The profile reports an adolescent birth rate of 21 per 1,000 females aged 15–19. Any contraception use among adolescent girls and women is 36%, modern contraception use is 33%, and demand satisfied for family planning by modern methods is 58%.
More than 90% of pregnant women are reported to receive antenatal care services. During antenatal visits, 33% receive HIV testing and 32% receive counseling. The supplied source expresses the antenatal-care result as “over 90%,” so it is not converted into a more precise percentage here.
Delivery care indicators are high in the reported profile: 99% of deliveries are attended by skilled health personnel and 97% take place in an institution. More than 80% of mothers and more than 80% of newborns receive postnatal care within two days of delivery.
Newborn-care practices include 89% dried immediately after birth, 48% breastfed within the first hour, 20% receiving skin-to-skin contact and 60% experiencing delayed bathing. Early initiation of breastfeeding is also reported at 48%, while continued breastfeeding at 12–23 months is 15%.
Education and learning
School participation varies by level. The UNICEF profile reports 87% of children one year younger than the official primary-school entry age attending early childhood education or primary school. Primary-school attendance among children of primary-school age is 88%.
Primary-school completion among children aged 3–5 years above intended primary-school age is 98%. Lower-secondary attendance and completion are each 84%. Upper-secondary attendance is 66%, while upper-secondary completion is 75%.
Learning indicators are lower than the reported primary completion figure: 60% of children aged 10–14 have foundational reading skills and 65% have foundational numeracy skills. These measures concern specific foundational abilities and age ranges, so they should not be treated as substitutes for attendance or completion.
Taken together, the figures show a Vientiane Capital profile with broad access to mobile phones, improved water sources, institutional delivery and primary education, alongside more uneven results in safe water quality, sanitation connections, immunization, nutrition, adolescent and family-planning services, upper-secondary participation and foundational learning. Each statistic remains tied to its reported geography, age band, measurement period and source.