Poor households stand at 2.3 million Vietnam has 2.3 million poor households, accounting for 9.79 per cent of all households in the country, according to a report from the Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs (MoLISA) sent to the Ministry of Finance on July 12. Binh Phuoc and Soc Trang province did not submit provincial reports.   The MoLISA report also shows that the number of near-poor households is almost 1.25 million, equal to 5.3 per cent of the total. Southern Binh Duong province is the only province not to have poor or near-poor households. Ho Chi Minh City does not have poor households but its near-poor households account for 0.02 per cent of the total. Dien Bien province, in the northwest, has the highest rate of poor and near-poor households, at 48 and 8 per cent, respectively, and is home to 56 per cent of all poor and near-poor households in the country. Incomplete figures show that the southeast of the country has the lowest number of poor and near-poor households, at 2.14 per cent of the total, followed by the Red River Delta in the north, with 8.12 per cent. The northwest mountains and northeast mountains have 44.39 per cent and 29.17 per cent, respectively. In 2015 the Prime Minister issued Decision No. 59 on classifying poor households for the 2016-2020 period. In rural areas, a poor household is defined as one in which the monthly income of each member is less than VND700,000 ($31.40) (previously VND400,000 ($17.90)). In urban areas the figure is VND900,000 ($40.35), after previously being set at VND500,000 ($22.50). Near-poor households in rural areas have individual incomes of less than VND1 million ($45) and less than VND1.3 million ($58.30) in urban areas. Poor and near-poor households are also defined based on the ten following factors: access to healthcare services, health insurance, education level of adults, school attendance of children, household quality, housing area per person, clean water access, clean toilets, access to telecommunications services, and access to information. In rural areas, a poor household is one in which individual monthly incomes are from VND700,000 ($31.40) to VND1 million ($45) and the households lacks at least three of the above factors. A near-poor household in rural areas has individual incomes of VND700,000 ($31.40) to VND1 million ($45) and lacks less than three factors. In urban areas, individual incomes in a poor household are from VND900,000 ($40.35) to VND1.3 million ($58.30) and the household lacks at least three of the ten factors, while in near-poor households incomes are VND900,000 ($40.35) to VND1.3 million ($58.30) and the household lacks less than three of the factors. An average living standard in rural areas is defined as households with individual monthly incomes of VND1 million ($45) to VND1.5 million ($67.30) and from VND1.3 million ($58.30) to VND1.95 million ($87.45) in urban areas.  VN Economic Times