How the risk raters see it
Singapore scores near the top on every rating; Vietnam sits mid-pack.
Sovereign credit rating
Singapore: AAAAll three agencies, stable
Vietnam: BB+Fitch, stable: one notch short
- AAA
- AA+
- AA
- AA-
- A+
- A
- A-
- BBB+
- BBB
- BBB-
- BB+
- BB
- BB-
- B+
- B
- B-
Coface country risk
Singapore: A3Business climate A1; cut from A2 in 2025
Vietnam: BBusiness climate A4; cut from A4 in June 2026
- A1
- A2
- A3
- A4
- B
- C
- D
- E
World Bank logistics rank
Singapore: 1stScore 4.3
Vietnam: 43rdScore 3.3
Coface country risk runs from A1 (very low) to E (extreme). A3: less favourable outlook, stable politics. B: uncertain outlook, possible strong political tension.
Coface business climate. A1: reliable company accounts, effective debt collection, open market. A4: patchy debt collection, some institutional gaps and market limits.
World Bank logistics rank: how easily firms set up reliable supply chains, scored 1 to 5 on six core dimensions across 139 countries in 2023.
Every risk, as we rank it
Ranked by how much each should change what a foreign company does. Select one to jump to it.
- Watch closely
- Manage it
- Low, but real
Singapore
Vietnam
Government
- Singapore
- Low, but real: Stable to the point of predictability, with tight rules on speech
- Low, but real: Religious and racial harmony is law, not etiquette
- Vietnam
- Watch closely: One party, a lot of change, and a purge that reaches the top
- Watch closely: Data lives here now
Society
- Singapore
- Manage it: Old, expensive, and getting more so
- Vietnam
- Manage it: You will breathe the air
Education
- Singapore
- Low, but real: The best-performing schools in the world
- Vietnam
- Manage it: Young, willing, and under-credentialed
Security
- Singapore
- Watch closely: The law is strict and it applies to you
- Manage it: Scams, not street crime
- Vietnam
- Watch closely: Weather is the disaster risk
- Manage it: The road is the crime
Economy
- Singapore
- Watch closely: A trade hub exposed to US tariffs
- Manage it: Booming on AI, dependent on imported labour
- Vietnam
- Watch closely: A tariff on the export model
- Manage it: Fast growth, rising prices, a weak dong
Government
In Singapore the risk is what you say. In Vietnam it is who you deal with.
Singapore
Stable to the point of predictability, with tight rules on speech
Foreigners need a police permit even to join an event at Speakers’ Corner.
Religious and racial harmony is law, not etiquette
Speech that wounds religious feelings is an offence.
Vietnam
One party, a lot of change, and a purge that reaches the top
A president resigned in 2024; provinces were cut from 63 to 34.
Data lives here now
Foreign digital firms can be ordered to store user data locally.
Society
Singapore is old and expensive. Vietnam is young, and its air is a health risk.
Singapore
1 in 5citizens aged 65 or older
Old, expensive, and getting more so
Ageing fast, in one of the world’s most expensive cities.
Vietnam
You will breathe the air
Hanoi was the 10th most polluted major city in January 2026.
Education
Singapore's schools top the world. Vietnam's workforce is young, but most of it has no formal qualification.
Singapore
1stin the world on PISA 2022, in maths, reading and science
The best-performing schools in the world
Singapore topped every PISA 2022 ranking, and English is the language of schooling and business.
Vietnam
28.8%of workers hold a diploma or certificate
Young, willing, and under-credentialed
The labour force grows by 500,000 a year, but few hold a qualification, and PISA scores fell sharply from 2018.
Security
In Singapore the threat comes by phone. In Vietnam it comes by road and by weather.
Singapore
- Scams37,308
- Physical crime20,857
Scams, not street crime
S$913 million was lost to scams in 2025.
The law is strict and it applies to you
Vandalism carries mandatory caning.
Vietnam
- Road deaths, Jan to Oct 20258,515
- Typhoon Yagi, Sep 2024318
Weather is the disaster risk
Yagi also did US$3.3 billion of damage.
The road is the crime
Bag snatching from motorbikes and taxi scams.
The tariff gap, then and now
In 2025 the US charged Vietnam twice Singapore's rate, and four times as much on goods judged transshipped. Since July 2026 both pay 12.5%.
- Singapore, 202510% on US$38.2bn of US imports
- Vietnam, 202520% most of US$193.9bn of US imports
- Vietnam, 2025, if judged transshipped40%
- Singapore, since July 202612.5% Section 301
- Vietnam, since July 202612.5% Section 301
Transshipped means routed through a third country to hide where goods were really made, such as Chinese products relabelled “Made in Vietnam”.
At 12.5%, the tariff falls on goods worth US$193.9 billion a year from Vietnam and US$38.2 billion from Singapore, at 2025 import levels. The 2025 rates were struck down in February 2026, and Singapore’s free trade agreement with the US did not shield it.
Economy
Singapore is exposed to US tariffs; Vietnam is growing fastest.
Singapore
A trade hub exposed to US tariffs
Trade is over three times GDP; the tariffs ended an era, said PM Wong.
Booming on AI, dependent on imported labour
5.9% growth in Q2 2026 on AI investment, and 1.6 million foreign workers.
Vietnam
A tariff on the export model
The US buys, China supplies 40% of imports, and the US tariff is 12.5%.
Fast growth, rising prices, a weak dong
8.02% growth in 2025, 7.2% forecast for 2026, 4.89% inflation.
Asia is slowing; Vietnam is not
The 2026 energy shock cut regional forecasts, but Vietnam is still Southeast Asia's fastest-growing economy.
- Vietnam7.2% ADB
- Singapore4.5–5.5% government forecast
- Developing Asia and the Pacific4.9% ADB
- Developing Southeast Asia4.6% ADB, excludes Singapore
- East Asia and Pacific4.2% World Bank
Forecasts from the Asian Development Bank (July 2026), the World Bank (April 2026) and Singapore’s trade ministry (August 2026).