The number of foreign nationals living in Laos has nearly doubled over the past decade, led by a sharp increase in Chinese residents, even as hundreds of thousands of Lao citizens live abroad.
Laos recorded 79,827 foreign residents in its 2025 census, up from 45,538 in 2015. The census also counted 313,766 Lao citizens living abroad, as the country faces slowing population growth and labour shortages.
Chinese nationals accounted for much of the increase in the foreign population. Their numbers rose from 1,825 in 2005 to 13,400 in 2015 and 25,492 in 2025. Vietnamese nationals remained the largest foreign group, with 28,269 residents in 2025.
Thousands of Lao Citizens Seek Work Abroad
The...
The number of foreign nationals living in Laos has nearly doubled over the past decade, led by a sharp increase in Chinese residents, even as hundreds of thousands of...
Laos’ population is growing more slowly, with birth rates falling and the population getting older, according to the country’s 2025 Population and Housing Census.
The fifth nationwide census ran from...
Bolikhamxay authorities signed investment agreements on 15 October for three solar power plants of up to 5 megawatts (MW) each in two districts, adding to a 100 MW project...
Vietnam is preparing to introduce Lao-language classes in schools in Son La Province, Hue City, and Quang Tri Province, with each locality at a different stage of implementation, local...
Prime Minister Saleumxay Kommasith has ordered the Ministry of Public Works and Transport to urgently address urban water shortages and clear overdue investment project debts.
The newly elected prime minister...
Laos has joined a pan-Asian forum that brings governments together to discuss regional security and economic cooperation, becoming its 29th member after about nine years as an observer.
The Conference...
The number of foreign nationals living in Laos has nearly doubled over the past decade, led by a sharp increase in Chinese residents, even as hundreds of thousands of Lao citizens live abroad.
Laos recorded 79,827 foreign residents in its 2025 census, up from 45,538 in 2015. The census also counted 313,766 Lao citizens living abroad, as the country faces slowing population growth and labour shortages.
Chinese nationals accounted for much of the increase in the foreign population. Their numbers rose from 1,825 in 2005 to 13,400 in 2015 and 25,492 in 2025. Vietnamese nationals remained the largest foreign group, with 28,269 residents in 2025.
Thousands of Lao Citizens Seek Work Abroad
The...
Laos expects to welcome between 5 and 6 million international tourists in 2026, with Chinese visitors projected to account for around 2 million of that total, according to government estimates.
The numbers will be...
Laos hosted the Mekong Tourism Forum 2025 in Luang Prabang from 24 to 27 June, spotlighting the proposed ASEAN Rail Tourism Corridor (ARTC) as a key initiative to boost regional travel and connectivity.
Held...
Red electric bikes bearing the “Laos Shared E-Bike” logo have reappeared across Vientiane, raising questions about who operates the service, whether it has official approval, and how the bikes will be parked.
The bikes can be unlocked through Zuimei’s LAOS-Ebike app and appear to revive an red e-bike service that authorities ordered removed in February over licensing concerns, unsafe riding, and improper parking. The operator of the newly appeared red bikes has not been publicly identified, and it remains unclear...
Laos is preparing to compete in 12 sports at the 14th ASEAN Para Games in Kuala Lumpur next October.
The Lao team has proposed entering athletics, swimming, powerlifting, boccia, women’s goalball, men’s blind football,...
Laos continues working to develop chess among younger generations.
A group of young Lao players has returned from Singapore with 12 medals after gaining international experience against competitors from across Asia and beyond.
Team Laos...
In the forests of Laos, observation comes before words for Souksamlan “Toun” Laladeth.
That idea inspired the title of his debut visual anthology, Where the Forests Have No Words, officially launched on 5 October in Vientiane*.*
"People call me a conservation and nature photographer. But really, I'm just a simple person, nothing more," Toun said.
Toun’s connection with nature began easily in life. Growing up in the northern Bokeo Province, his mother taught him which forest vegetables were safe to eat, while his father, a local hunter, taught him how to track animals.
“Nature and forest, they cannot speak,” Toun says. “Spending time in nature is key to understanding its language.”
Years later, as he began working professionally in the forest, Toun learned more from experienced animal trackers in South Africa and Northern Europe. They taught him how to move silently in the forest, observe his surroundings closely, and think like the animals he was following.
"If you want to see wildlife, you have to think like wildlife, you have to move like wildlife, you have to act like wildlife," Toun said.
In 2009, Toun began working in the Nam Kan National Park as a porter,...
