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Total employment cost of a developer: Vietnam vs Spain

Published · 10 min read

A person's hands typing on a laptop keyboard at a desk.
Photo by jevgeni mironov on Unsplash.

A mid-level developer in Vietnam costs 1,450 EUR a month in total, against 4,405 EUR in Spain: 33%. The figure compares total employment cost, not gross salary, and includes employer contributions and the Tết bonus. Exchange rate: 1 EUR = 29,100 VND (30 September 2026).

Why compare total cost and not gross salary

Total employment cost is everything an employer pays for one person in a month: gross salary, mandatory social security contributions and extra payments. Comparing gross pay alone misleads, because contributions and extra payments weigh differently in each country.

This guide uses a mid-level backend profile in both countries. Gross salaries in Vietnam and Spain are not compared with each other. Each is taken to total cost under its own country's rules, and only then compared.

The Vantu bands shown here are indicative. Vantu uses them as orientation, and this guide checks them against public sources.

Exchange rate used

The European Central Bank (ECB) reference rate table for 30 September 2026 does not include the Vietnamese dong (VND). So the rate crosses two open data points.

They are 1.1355 USD per EUR (ECB, 30 September 2026) and 25,624 VND per USD (State Bank of Vietnam, 1 October 2026). The result is 29,096 VND per EUR, rounded to 29,100.

The central rate is not a market price: a bank will apply a slightly different one. If the rate moves 5%, the mid-level cost ranges between 1,381 and 1,526 EUR a month.

Table 1. Bands by seniority

The public source is a survey of 1,839 people between May and November 2025 by ITviec, an IT job portal. The figures are answers from professionals, not advertised salaries. They are monthly medians in VND.

The page does not say whether they are gross or net. PENDIENTE: confirm with ITviec whether the figure is gross.

Level Years EUR per month VND per month Vantu indicative band (EUR per month) Source
Junior 0 to 2 426 to 871 12.4 M to 25.35 M around 700 ITviec 2025-2026, backend median for under 1 year and 1 to 2 years
Mid 3 to 5 1,034 30.1 M around 1,100 ITviec 2025-2026, backend median for 3 to 4 years
Senior 5 to 8 1,371 39.9 M around 1,850 ITviec 2025-2026, backend median for 5 to 8 years

Vantu's junior and mid bands fall inside the public data: 700 EUR sits between 426 and 871, and 1,100 EUR is 6% above the median for 3 to 4 years.

The senior band does not match. Vantu's 1,850 EUR is 35% above the public median for 5 to 8 years. It is close to the median for more than 8 years: 54.9 M VND, or 1,887 EUR.

Columns showing the monthly backend median in Vietnam by years of experience (ITviec 2025-2026): under 1 year 426 EUR, 1 to 2 years 871, 3 to 4 years 1,034, 5 to 8 years 1,371 and over 8 years 1,887 EUR.

Table 2. Bands by specialty

Mid is the median for 3 to 4 years and senior the median for 5 to 8 years, unless noted. Medians come from ITviec 2025-2026.

Specialty Mid (EUR per month) Senior (EUR per month) Profile availability
Backend 1,034 1,371 The role companies look for most, according to ITviec 2024-2025.
Frontend 1,058 1,436 Sought less than backend and full-stack (ITviec 2024-2025).
Data 1,955 (data engineer) PENDIENTE The mid figure has no published sample; the data analyst at 5 to 8 years reaches 1,460.
QA 711 869 A widely sought profile, with the lowest median of the six rows.
DevOps PENDIENTE 1,498 (5 years) 19.7% of companies ask for cloud skills (ITviec 2024-2025).
Mobile 998 1,284 PENDIENTE: public demand data.

The senior DevOps figure is from the ITviec 2024-2025 report (2,324 people, 2024) and is not comparable with the rest. PENDIENTE: mid-level DevOps median and senior data median with a published sample.

Grouped bars with the monthly median in EUR for mid and senior profiles by specialty. Mid / senior: backend 1,034 / 1,371; frontend 1,058 / 1,436; data 1,955 / no data; QA 711 / 869; DevOps no data / 1,498; mobile 998 / 1,284.

Table 3. Total employment cost of a mid-level profile

The Vietnam profile is a mid-level developer on 1,100 EUR gross a month (32,010,000 VND). The Spain profile is a mid-level developer on 40,000 EUR gross a year.

That is the midpoint of the 35,000 to 45,000 EUR Adecco Group gives for mid-level in its 2026 guide (Microsoft EMEA). The guide mixes market data, job postings and interviews, with no sample size. Spain's INE reports an average annual wage of 39,674 EUR in information and communications for 2023.

Amounts in EUR per month, with the percentages in force in 2026.

Item Vietnam: rate and cap Vietnam Spain: rate and cap Spain
Gross salary 1,100 EUR a month 1,100.00 40,000 EUR a year in 12 parts 3,333.33
Social insurance 17.5%, capped at 50,600,000 VND 192.50 not applicable 0.00
Health insurance 3%, same cap 33.00 not applicable 0.00
Unemployment insurance 1%, capped at 106,200,000 VND (region I) 11.00 5.50% 183.33
Trade union fee 2% of the salary that carries contributions 22.00 not applicable 0.00
Common contingencies not applicable 0.00 23.60%, maximum base 5,101.20 EUR a month 786.67
FOGASA, vocational training and MEI not applicable 0.00 0.20%, 0.60% and 0.75% 51.67
Work accidents (CNAE 62) included in the 17.5% (0.5%) 0.00 1.50% 50.00
Contributions subtotal 23.5% 258.50 32.15% 1,071.67
Tết bonus, prorated 1 month's pay divided by 12 91.67 extra pay already inside the annual gross 0.00
Usual benefits PENDIENTE: figure with source not included PENDIENTE: figure with source not included
Total monthly cost 1,450.17 4,405.00

The total annual cost is 17,402 EUR in Vietnam and 52,860 EUR in Spain. Vietnam's is 33% of Spain's.

Vietnamese rules and dates in force

Employer social insurance is 17.5%: 14% for retirement and death, 3% for sickness and maternity and 0.5% for work accidents. It comes from Law 41/2024/QH15, in force since 1 July 2025. Employer health insurance is 3%.

Unemployment insurance is capped at 1% since 1 January 2026, under the 2025 Employment Law. The social and health insurance cap is 20 times the reference level: 50,600,000 VND since 1 July 2026, because Decree 161/2026/NĐ-CP raised the base salary from 2,340,000 to 2,530,000 VND. The unemployment cap is 20 times the regional minimum wage in Decree 293/2025/NĐ-CP: 106,200,000 VND in region I since 1 January 2026.

The trade union fee is 2% of the payroll that carries social insurance contributions (Decrees 191/2013/NĐ-CP and 12/2022/NĐ-CP). A gross salary of 32 million VND is below every cap.

Spanish rules and dates in force

Order PJC/297/2026 (BOE of 31 March 2026, effective from 1 January) sets the maximum base at 5,101.20 EUR a month. Common contingencies are 28.30% and the company pays 23.60%. The MEI (Intergenerational Equity Mechanism) is 0.90%, with 0.75% paid by the company.

Unemployment on a permanent contract is 7.05%, with 5.50% paid by the company. FOGASA, the fund that covers unpaid wages, is 0.20% and vocational training is 0.60% for the company. A secondary website gives a 1.50% accident tariff for CNAE 62.

PENDIENTE: confirm the tariff with the mutual insurer or the official table.

Check against Vantu's range

Vantu puts a mid-level profile in Spain at 3,900 to 5,200 EUR a month, a total cost that matches public data. With the percentages in Table 3, 35,000 to 45,000 EUR gross comes to between 3,854 and 4,956 EUR a month.

INE measures 5,004.50 EUR of labour cost per worker per month in information and communications in the second quarter of 2026, across all categories.

The Tết bonus

The Tết bonus is an extra payment, usually one month's pay, that many employers make before the Lunar New Year, between late January and mid-February. It is also called the 13th month.

It is not required by law. Article 104 of the 2019 Labour Code ties the bonus to company results and work done.

According to Thư Viện Pháp Luật, there is no specific rule on the 13th month. If the contract promises it, it must be paid (Article 17 of Decree 12/2022/NĐ-CP, per that source).

It is a market custom, and it throws off a European employer's first-year budget because the payment arrives in one lump. The model uses one month's pay, a planning assumption and not a public figure: 91.67 EUR a month. With 0 months the cost is 1,358.50 EUR a month, and with 2 it is 1,541.83 EUR.

PENDIENTE: public Tết figure for the tech sector, with methodology.

As a general reference, the Ministry of Home Affairs reported an average of 8.69 M VND per worker (about 299 EUR) for Tết 2026. The data covers more than 50,000 companies and 4.2 million workers, across all sectors.

What moves a band

Experience has the most data behind it. In backend, the median rises from 426 EUR (under one year) to 1,887 EUR (more than eight).

Specialty also counts: ITviec reports, in dollars, 2,090 a month for Go with six years of experience and 1,760 for Python, 19% less.

English weighs on demand: 40.3% of companies prioritize it (ITviec 2024-2025, summarized by Vietnam Investment Review on 20 January 2025).

PENDIENTE: salary premium for English with published methodology. PENDIENTE: premium for international client experience, with no public figure.

How often to review these figures

The exchange rate changes every day, so fix it by quarter. Contributions change at least once a year. The regional minimum wage changed in July 2024 and January 2026, and the reference base salary in July 2024 and July 2026.

Salary bands renew with each annual ITviec report. Recalculate them when the next one appears.

What this article does not cover

It does not include management fees, equipment, office space, private health insurance or recruitment cost. It does not cover the employee's own taxes: article 05 of this series deals with payroll and taxes. It does not cover turnover cost or work permits either.

FAQ

How much does a mid-level developer cost per month in Vietnam?

The total is 1,450 EUR a month on a gross salary of 1,100 EUR: 258.50 EUR of employer contributions and 91.67 EUR of prorated Tết bonus. The same profile in Spain costs 4,405 EUR on a gross salary of 40,000 EUR a year.

How much does a senior developer earn in Vietnam?

The public backend median for 5 to 8 years is 39.9 M VND, about 1,371 EUR a month (ITviec 2025-2026). Vantu's indicative band is around 1,850 EUR, higher than the public median.

Is the Tết bonus mandatory?

Not by law. Article 104 of the 2019 Labour Code leaves the bonus to the employer's judgment based on results. But if the contract promises it, it must be paid, and one month's pay adds 91.67 EUR a month to the mid-level cost.

How much do employers pay in contributions in Vietnam and in Spain?

In Vietnam the employer pays 23.5% of gross salary, trade union fee included: 258.50 EUR on 1,100 EUR. In Spain it pays 32.15% with the CNAE 62 accident tariff: 1,071.67 EUR on 3,333.33 EUR a month.

Closing

Copy Table 3 into your spreadsheet and replace the gross salary with your own. Use the exchange rate of the day. Then write to Vantu with your stack and level, and we will calculate the total cost for your team.

Sources

Date of access: 1 October 2026. Exchange rate used: 1 EUR = 29,100 VND. It comes from 1.1355 USD per EUR (ECB, 30 September 2026) and 25,624 VND per USD (State Bank of Vietnam central rate, 1 October 2026).