On May 11, the Ministry of Home Affairs announced the 2025 Satisfaction Index of Public Administrative Services (SIPAS 2025) and the 2025 Public Administration Reform Index (PAR INDEX 2025) for ministries, ministerial-level agencies, and provincial People’s Committees.

The two indicators are considered key tools for evaluating the results and impact of administrative reform in a comprehensive, objective and multidimensional manner.

They also help local governments analyze and compare their performance, identify strengths and shortcomings in each reform area, and implement measures to improve administrative efficiency and public service quality.

Hai Phong leads PAR INDEX 2025 rankings

According to the Ministry of Home Affairs, the average PAR INDEX score for provinces and centrally governed cities in 2025 continued its upward trend, reaching 89.96%.

The figure was 1.59 percentage points higher than in 2024, when the average score stood at 88.37%, marking the highest result recorded to date.

The 2025 PAR INDEX rankings for provinces and cities were divided into two groups.

Group A included 18 provinces and cities scoring 90% or higher.

Group B included 16 provinces and cities scoring from 80% to under 90%.

Hai Phong topped the national rankings with a score of 95.37%.

According to the ministry, Hai Phong continued to achieve major breakthroughs in 2025, generating positive impacts on economic growth and public satisfaction.

The city was approved by the National Assembly to pilot several special mechanisms and policies aimed at removing institutional bottlenecks and creating a more transparent, stable and attractive investment environment.

Hai Phong’s GRDP growth remained in double digits at 11.81%, 1.47 times higher than the national average.

The city also remained the only locality in Vietnam to sustain double-digit GRDP growth for 11 consecutive years.

State budget revenue in Hai Phong exceeded VND187 trillion (USD7.2 billion), up 23.1% year-on-year.

Domestic investment attraction reached a record VND371 trillion (USD14.3 billion), 8.3 times higher than the same period last year.

The Ministry of Home Affairs also noted that several other localities recorded remarkable progress and positive results in administrative reform.

Among the top five provinces and cities in the 2025 PAR INDEX rankings, Quang Ninh came second with 93.16%, followed by Dong Nai with 93.1%, Ninh Binh with 93.08%, and Hanoi with 92.9%.

At the bottom of the rankings was Cao Bang, which scored 82.73%.

According to the assessment, the province made considerable efforts in directing and implementing administrative reform, with positive outcomes in areas such as institutional reform and organizational restructuring.

However, several reform areas still showed limitations and low effectiveness.

In addition to Cao Bang, several other provinces also recorded relatively low PAR INDEX scores in 2025.

Lai Chau scored 85.51%, ranking 32nd out of 34 localities.

Lang Son scored 84.44%, placing 33rd out of 34.

Six component indices increased, two declined

Comparing the results of the eight component indices, the Ministry of Home Affairs said six indicators improved in 2025.

The sharpest increase was seen in public finance reform, which rose by 4.99 percentage points.

Two indices declined compared with 2024.

They were administrative reform leadership and management, down 1.39 percentage points, and digital transformation in state agencies, down 0.04 percentage points.

According to the evaluation data, administrative reform in 2025 continued to receive close and decisive attention from local leaders.

Digital transformation was implemented strongly, with many new solutions and methods introduced and expanded to help fulfill administrative reform tasks more effectively.

However, due to the large workload and the complexity of several unprecedented tasks, the implementation process still revealed shortcomings, which were partly reflected in the administrative reform index results.

The administrative procedures reform index recorded the highest average score among the eight component indicators, reaching 98.14%, up 1.35 percentage points from 2024, when the figure stood at 96.79%.

All localities scored above 90% in this category.

Hai Phong ranked first with 99.92%, while Lang Son ranked last with 91.08%.

The second-highest component index was administrative reform leadership and management, with a score of 96.05%, down 1.23 percentage points from 2024, when it reached 97.28%.

Three localities achieved the maximum evaluation score of 100%.

Twenty-nine localities scored above 90%.

The two lowest-ranked localities in this category scored between 80% and under 90%.

Ha Tinh recorded the lowest score in this component index at 85.70%.

The organizational restructuring reform index ranked third, with an average score of 92.42%, up 0.63 percentage points from 2024.

Tay Ninh topped this category with 96.15%, while Ca Mau ranked lowest with 88.07%.

The institutional reform index ranked fourth, averaging 92.06%, up 0.45 percentage points from 2024.

Hai Phong led the category with 98.24%, while Thanh Hoa ranked last at 81.23%.

The public finance reform index ranked fifth with an average score of 89.77%, up 4.99 percentage points from 2024.

Twenty out of 34 localities scored above 90%.

Hai Phong again led the rankings with 98.94%, while An Giang recorded the lowest score at 67.44%.

The civil service reform index ranked sixth, averaging 88.72%, up 4.38 percentage points from 2024.

Fourteen out of 34 localities scored above 90%.

Hai Phong continued to lead the rankings with 96.33%, while Cao Bang ranked lowest at 76.80%.

The digital transformation index in state agencies ranked seventh, averaging 84.89%, slightly lower than the 84.93% recorded in 2024.

Ninh Binh topped the category with 97.17%.

Six localities in the bottom group scored below 80%, with Cao Bang ranking last at 71.19%.

The eighth component index measured the impact of administrative reform on citizens and local socio-economic development.

The category recorded an average score of 83.96%, up 2.48 percentage points from 2024.

Quang Ninh achieved the highest score at 92.45%, while Lang Son ranked last with 68.07%.

Administrative reform index results for ministries and ministerial-level agencies

Regarding the overall administrative reform index, the average score among 12 ministries and ministerial-level agencies in 2025 reached 87.2%, up 2.77 percentage points from 2024, when the figure stood at 84.43%.

Six out of the 12 ministries recorded scores above the average level.

The 2025 administrative reform index rankings for ministries and ministerial-level agencies were also divided into two groups.

Group A, consisting of agencies scoring 90% or higher, included the Ministry of Justice, the State Bank of Vietnam, the Ministry of Finance, and the Ministry of Home Affairs.

Group B, consisting of agencies scoring from 80% to under 90%, included the Ministry of Construction, the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment, the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Training, and the Ministry of Health.

According to the rankings, the Ministry of Justice achieved the highest administrative reform index score in 2025 at 95.48%.

The score was 14.47 percentage points higher than that of the Ministry of Health, which ranked last with 81.01%.

Ngan Anh