A Vietnamese child was adopted by Hollywood couple Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, and was renamed Pax Thien (first on right) 

The ministry's Department of Child Adoption reported foreign adoptions were up from 334 in 2013.

Adoption agencies from Belgium, Germany, Sweden, Norway and Luxembourg, as well as Canada, Spain, Italy and France were active in facilitating foreign adoptions of orphaned children in Vietnam.

US agencies remained active, with a third agency expected to be licensed by the department to organise adoptions possibly later this year.

The department said there have been 6,000 reports about the growth and health of adoped children and adoption situation in Vietnam so far, including 1,500 in 2014.

Dinh Van Loc, of the Ministry of Justice, said adoption applications must be closely examined and the needs of  the child should be foremost in considerations.

Deputy Minister of Justice Nguyen Khanh Ngoc said, "The number of Vietnamese adopted in 2014 is still much lower than the real number of children who need a family. Complicated procedures are a major obstable to the process."

Ngoc said the Department of Child Adoption needed to more closely study the needs of children to work out more suitable guiding policies.