Most of the poor still live in rural areas but it is the rapid decline in rural poverty that is reducing poverty at a national level. Using the food poverty indicator, which gives an idea of the incidence of (temporary) hunger in rural areas, 9 percent of rural households are still affected, reaching 29 percent for ethnic minority households. In other words, around 13.5 million people still live in poverty and 5 to 6 million remain food poor; however, even food poor people are moving close to the poverty line.
Regional poverty differences remain wide: People in the mountainous areas are much poorer than the lowland population. Rural poverty is greatest in the remote upland areas in the northern and the north central coast areas with poverty rates varying widely between districts and communes (Minot et al. 2006). A combination of fast declines in poverty in the poorer areas and a slower decline in the richer ones is actually resulting in a narrowing of the poverty gap and a convergence between regions (Vietnam Development Report 2008).