HANOI, Jan. 5 (Xinhua) -- Vietnam's population is forecast to continue growing but at slower speed and will hit 100 million people by 2025, according to the Institute of Public Policy and Management (IPPM) on Thursday.

The country has maintained steady low birth rate as local people have been aware of benefits of small-scale families, Giang Thanh Long, IPPM director under Hanoi-based National Economics University said on local Bao Dau Tu (Vietnam Investment Review) on Thursday.

The country's population is expected to reach 110 million people by mid-century, said Long.

The expert said Vietnam has stepped into aging process and will soon become a country with an aging population.

The "golden population structure" offers opportunity of huge labor force but also brings about challenge on improving personnel quality, creating high-productivity and high-income jobs, said Long.

According to the latest figure by the General Statistics Office, Vietnam's average population in 2016 was estimated at 92.7 million people, up 1.08 percent compared to 2015.