Download the People Group List (16 languages .csv)

Amharic - አማርኛ | Arabic - عربي
Bengali - বাংলা | Chinese (Simplified) - 中文（简体）
Chinese (Traditional) - 中文（繁體) | French - Français
German - Deutsch | Gujarati - ગુજરાતી
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Portugese - Português | Russian - Русский
Spanish - Espanol | Tagalong / Filipino
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PEOPLE GROUP PROFILE

The Lao of Vietnam

The Lao of Vietnam, numbering approximately 206,000 people, are Unengaged and Unreached. They are a Lao community in Vietnam descended from migrants from Laos that preserves the language, traditions, and cultural heritage of the Lao people. They mostly adhere to Ethnoreligion and Lao is their primary language.

Photo by Google. (2026). Image generated by Gemini 2.5 Flash: Lao

Fast Facts:

Affinity Group: Southeast Asian Peoples
Country: Vietnam
People Cluster: Lao
Primary Language(s): Lao (lao)
Primary Religion(s): Ethnoreligion
Population: 206,000
Strategic Progress Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity
People Group ID: PG011173
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Pray for the Lao of Vietnam

Join others around the world in praying for the lost to be saved, the gospel to advance, the global Church to grow, and for laborers to be sent out and sustained in the harvest.

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Dig Deeper (Religion):

Primary Religion: Ethnoreligion
Religious Affiliation: Ethnoreligion

—
%
Ethnoreligion Adherents

Dig Deeper (Language):

Primary Language: Lao
Language Family: Tai-Kadai

100%
%
Lao Speakers

Media Resources in Lao:

Films:
TitleLink
JESUSView Film
MagdalenaView Film

2 films

Provided by the Jesus Film Project

View all resources

Bible Resources in Lao:

Bible Name (Translation)VideoAudioText
Revised Lao Version✓✓

1 entry

Provided by Faith Comes by Hearing

Or check out the Lao bible at Bible.com

Linked from YouVersion

View all resources

Explore Lostness and Next Steps

Unengaged and Unreached

Strategic Priority Index (SPI): Unengaged and Unreached (SPI: 0), which means there are less than 2% evangelical Christian populations among which there are no known efforts focused on establishing self-sustaining churches consistent with evangelical faith and practice.
Lostness Priority Index (LPI): Frontier Unreached People Group, (LPI: 0), < 0.1% Evangelical.
Global Status of Evangelical Christianity (GSEC): Less than 2% Evangelical, No Recent CP Activity (GSEC: 1), this people group is less than 2% evangelical, some evangelical resources are available, but there has been no active church planting among them within the past two years

Next steps for the Lao:
Begin signifcant prayer and fasting for this group
Send cross-cultural teams to discover and research this people group
Begin gospel seed sowing and church planting among this group

Pray specifically for the Lao of Vietnam

"For it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for a rich person to enter the kingdom of God." Those who heard it said, "Then who can be saved?" But he said "What is impossible with man is possible with God."
readLuke 18:25-27

Pray that the lost who think they have everything they need will recognize their spiritual poverty apart from Jesus and turn to Him in faith.

So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy.
readRomans 9:16

Pray that the merciful God who is at work in people's hearts will advance His gospel among them.

Praying at all times in the Spirit, with all prayer and supplication. To that end, keep alert with all perseverance, making supplication for all the saints.
readEphesians 6:18

Pray that as people place their faith in Christ, they will be alert and persistent in prayer for all believers, offering their requests with thanksgiving.

At the same time, pray also for us, that God may open to us a door for the word, to declare the mystery of Christ...that I may make it clear, which is how I ought to speak.
readColossians 4:3-4

Ask God to open doors for believers to share the gospel and help them communicate it clearly so that more people will understand the mystery of Christ and turn to follow Him.

Lao Across Countries (ROP3 - 105643) reported in the following countries:

Strategic Progress Index
All

8 people groups

PhotoPeople Group IDNameCountryPopulation ▼Strategic Progress IndexLanguageReligion
LaoPG009139LaoLaos3,975,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG046485LaoUnited States236,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG011173LaoVietnam206,000Unengaged and UnreachedLaoEthnoreligion
LaoPG020442LaoCambodia41,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG009467LaoMyanmar26,000No Longer UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG000172LaoFrance19,500Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG043429LaoCanada17,000Engaged yet UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism
LaoPG017347LaoArgentina2,300Unengaged and UnreachedLaoTheravada Buddhism

To download a comprehensive people group list in spreadsheet form, visit our Research Data page.

Peoplegroups.org relies on updates from the field and other organizations for much of our data, so if you have any updates, please contact us. We use various international naming standards. For a list of these standards and fields, visit our Data Standards section.

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