Date Received: 09-06-2026 / Date Accepted: 25-08-2026 / Date Published: 30-09-2026
In Vietnam, access to energy is now nearly universal, yet affordability remains a substantive barrier. This study measures the energy expenditure burden-the share of spending on electricity, gas, firewood/rice husk, and natural gas in total household expenditure-and analyzes how this burden varies across living standards and ethnicity. The study assesses the regressivity of the burden across living standards, identifies the determinants of the burden and energy poverty, then clarifies ethnic disparities across burden levels. Using VHLSS 2024 data covering 9,399 households, the analysis applies OLS, Probit, and models interacting ethnicity with living standards. The results show a markedly regressive burden, declining from 12.23% among the poorest quintile to 7.19% among the richest; living standards are the strongest determinant, while small households, elderly households, and urban households are more vulnerable. Ethnic disparities emerge mainly in the tail of the distribution: compared with Kinh households, ethnic minority households face a higher probability of extreme burden, and their burden declines more slowly as living standards rise. The study recommends that energy price reforms be accompanied by targeted support mechanisms, and that policies for ethnic minority areas intervene on both the supply and demand sides.
