Taiwan (China), which hosts the largest number of Vietnamese (256,500) has a record 24,000 or 9 percent of workers that have absconded after the conclusion of their contracts.
South Korea has also reported that 26 percent of Vietnamese workers have not returned home after concluding their contracts.
Nearly 4,700 Vietnamese workers have also violated contracts and worked illegally in Japan. Over 1,300 others are working illegally in the Middle East and Africa and 600 in Europe.
The ministry said the problem was compounded by many workers being able to find other jobs that paid better than their contracted firm, and they wanted to stay longer.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, many workers couldn't return to Vietnam after their contracts ended, especially in Taiwan and Japan, so they found employment.
"Some of them have been found to have violated the laws in their host countries, seriously affecting the image of Vietnamese legally working," the ministry added.
The ministry has taken some measures to prevent Vietnamese migrant workers from overstaying their contracts overseas. Workers in South Korea were required to make a pre-departure deposit worth VND100 million to guarantee their return to Vietnam after their contract expires.
The deposit would be refunded upon the end of the contract. Workers however would lose the deposit if they absconded in South Korea after their contracts end or their duration of stay has expired.
