Estimating population and labour force in Vietnam under French rule (1900-1954) *

Abstract

This paper presents preliminary findings on population and labour force in Vietnam under French rule, between 1900 and 1954. These data are based on estimations and censuses carried out by the colonial administration. For the major part of former Indochina population and labour force in industrial branches, data are extremely fragmentary and their reliability is uncertain.

As a rule, the French colonial administration was not much interested in producing accurate figures on Native population, especially before the end of the nineteenth century. This explains the time limitation of the research to the 1900-1954 period. Regarding labour force, the same situation prevailed. French administration investigations focused on fiscal issues. Labour force was not regarded as a reliable indicator for estimating income from productive activities.

A large part of the historiography of the last five decades on Vietnam under French rule focuses on labour exploitation by French firms and colonial administration. Even if one may understand this point of view, the fragility of these works resides in the fact that few evidences were produced, except fragmentary examples based on microeconomic data. All these features make population and labour force estimates a difficult but essential task for research on Vietnamfs quantitative economic history.

This paper presents the sources on Vietnam' s population under French rule and analyses the patterns of population and labour force by official series. Using a reverse projection method, it proposes a reconstruction of Vietnam population and an estimate of labour force relying on gender and age specific labour participation hypotheses.