Vietnam lowers electricity price, first time in almost 20 years

Vietnam’s average retail electricity price will fall 2% starting Sunday, the first decrease in nearly two decades of increases.

Average retail price is now at VND2,159.90 per kilowatt-hour, according to the Vietnam Electricity.

This is the first decrease in the average electricity price in nearly 20 years, excluding five rounds of reductions in electricity bills and prices to support people and businesses affected by Covid-19.

Between 2023 and 2025, electricity prices rose by 18.2% in four adjustments. The last increase was made in May 2025.

Before those increases, electricity prices had remained unchanged for more than four years, from March 2019 to May 2023.

EVN said the reduction followed a review of its operations and efforts to calculate and cut costs as much as possible. The adjustment is intended to support people and businesses, help stabilize the macroeconomy and ensure social welfare.

At a National Assembly session on economic and social issues on the morning of Oct. 31, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Van Thang said the government had directed EVN to cut costs as much as possible to lower average retail electricity prices by about 2%.

He said the electricity price reduction, together with a plan to cut the special consumption tax on gasoline to zero, would provide about 0.07 percentage points of additional room to control inflation and work toward the 4.5% target set by the National Assembly.