Vietnam's laboratories are becoming increasingly automated as hospitals, diagnostic centres, pharmaceutical companies and research institutions look to increase testing capacity, improve accuracy and reduce the amount of repetitive manual work involved in laboratory processes.
According to IMARC Group, the Vietnam Laboratory Automation Market reached US$30.4 million in 2025 and is forecast to grow to US$50.6 million by 2034, representing a compound annual growth rate of 5.67% between 2026 and 2034.
The market encompasses technologies ranging from automated laboratory workstations and liquid handling systems to specimen handling, sample transportation, robotic systems, automated storage and Laboratory Information Management Systems (LIMS).
For technology suppliers, this represents an increasingly diverse opportunity spanning clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical research, biotechnology, academic research and industrial testing.
Laboratories move from manual processes to automation
Laboratories traditionally depend on highly trained staff performing large numbers of repetitive processes manually.
As testing volumes increase, this model creates challenges around throughput, turnaround time, consistency and staffing.
Automation allows repetitive processes including sample preparation, sorting, transportation, liquid handling, analysis, storage and data management to be performed with less manual intervention.
IMARC identifies increasing healthcare digitisation, investment in laboratory infrastructure and expansion of Vietnam's pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries as important drivers of laboratory automation adoption.
Automation can also help laboratories improve reproducibility and reduce the potential for human error—particularly important as testing volumes and analytical complexity increase.
Clinical laboratories represent a major opportunity
One of the most important applications is clinical diagnostics.
Modern diagnostic laboratories may process thousands of samples covering chemistry, haematology, immunology, molecular diagnostics and other disciplines.
Automation can connect different stages of the testing workflow, beginning when a sample enters the laboratory and continuing through processing, analysis, result validation and storage.
IMARC's definition of Vietnam's market includes workstations, LIMS, sample transport systems, specimen handling systems and automated storage and retrieval systems specifically designed for clinical laboratories.
This creates opportunities for suppliers capable of providing not simply individual analysers, but integrated laboratory workflows.
Total laboratory automation changes the model
At the most advanced end of the market is Total Laboratory Automation (TLA).
Rather than automating a single process, TLA connects multiple instruments and workflows through automated tracks, robotics and software.
A sample can potentially be identified, transported between analysers, processed and stored with limited manual intervention.
For high-volume hospital and reference laboratories, this can improve throughput while allowing skilled laboratory professionals to concentrate on more complex tasks.
Vietnam's market is already being analysed across both modular automation and whole-laboratory automation, indicating the increasing range of solutions available to laboratories.
Modular systems may be particularly important for emerging markets because laboratories can automate individual processes progressively rather than immediately investing in a complete TLA installation.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology expansion drives demand
Laboratory automation is equally important outside clinical diagnostics.
Pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies use automated systems across drug discovery, screening, formulation, quality control and biological research.
Automated liquid handlers, for example, can dispense extremely small and precise volumes across hundreds or thousands of samples, making them valuable for high-throughput screening.
IMARC's Vietnam market specifically includes automated drug-discovery systems such as plate readers, automated liquid handling, robotic systems, LIMS, storage and retrieval systems and dissolution-testing equipment.
As Vietnam develops its pharmaceutical manufacturing and biotechnology capabilities, the supporting requirement for sophisticated laboratory infrastructure should expand alongside them.
Genomics and molecular diagnostics increase automation requirements
The growth of molecular diagnostics and genomics creates another important opportunity.
Technologies such as PCR and next-generation sequencing involve multiple stages of sample preparation, extraction and processing.
When testing volumes increase, manually performing these steps becomes time-consuming and can introduce variability.
Automation can standardise workflows for nucleic-acid extraction, PCR preparation, sequencing library preparation and sample management.
A separate Vietnam lab automation study from 6Wresearch specifically identifies genomics and proteomics solutions alongside clinical diagnostics and drug discovery as major applications for the market.
This connects laboratory automation directly with some of the fastest-developing areas of Vietnam's life-sciences sector.
LIMS becomes the digital backbone of the laboratory
Automation increasingly involves software as much as hardware.
Laboratory Information Management Systems can provide the digital infrastructure connecting samples, instruments, workflows and results.
Rather than information being manually transferred between different systems, a LIMS can help laboratories manage sample tracking, workflows, results, quality control, compliance and reporting.
Vietnam already has a developing dedicated laboratory informatics market. Research from 6Wresearch identifies increasing adoption of LIMS, electronic laboratory notebooks and laboratory automation software across pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, food and beverage and other laboratory-intensive industries.
As laboratories become more automated, the ability to integrate instruments with information systems will become increasingly important.
AI moves into laboratory workflows
Artificial intelligence represents the next stage of development.
IMARC identifies the incorporation of AI and machine learning as a major trend within Vietnam's laboratory automation market.
Machine-learning systems can analyse large datasets, identify patterns, support predictive modelling and potentially identify operational problems before they interrupt laboratory workflows.
AI can also be integrated with instruments and laboratory software to help optimise processes and support interpretation of increasingly complex results.
For laboratories handling genomics, proteomics and other large biological datasets, this combination of physical automation and intelligent data analysis could become particularly significant.
Automation expands beyond healthcare
The opportunity is not restricted to hospitals and pharmaceutical companies.
Vietnam-specific market research identifies end users including forensic laboratories, environmental testing laboratories and the food and beverage industry, alongside hospitals, diagnostic laboratories, biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical manufacturers and research institutions.
Food laboratories can use automation to increase the throughput of testing for contaminants, residues and product quality.
Environmental laboratories can automate sample preparation and analytical workflows for water, soil and pollution testing.
Industrial and quality-control laboratories can similarly automate repetitive processes where consistency and traceability are critical.
Laboratory automation therefore sits at the intersection of Vietnam's healthcare, life-sciences and wider scientific-testing infrastructure.
Asia-Pacific automation accelerates
Vietnam's development forms part of a much larger regional shift.
MarketsandMarkets values the Asia-Pacific Lab Automation Market at US$625.2 million in 2026 and forecasts it to reach US$904.6 million by 2031, representing annual growth of 9.6%.
The research identifies healthcare modernisation, increased R&D spending, rising diagnostic demand and rapid industrialisation as important regional growth drivers.
Asia-Pacific is expected to grow significantly faster than the global lab automation market, creating an increasingly important market for international laboratory technology companies.
An opportunity across the laboratory ecosystem
For suppliers, laboratory automation extends far beyond laboratory robots.
The commercial ecosystem includes automated workstations, liquid handling, sample preparation, microplate readers, specimen handling, robotic arms, sample transportation, automated storage, laboratory informatics, LIMS, AI, data management and integration services.
It also creates recurring demand for consumables, maintenance, software, training and technical support.
The strongest opportunities are likely to emerge where laboratories need to process larger numbers of increasingly complex samples while simultaneously improving accuracy, traceability and turnaround times.
With Vietnam's Laboratory Automation Market forecast to increase from US$30.4 million in 2025 to US$50.6 million by 2034, automation is set to become an increasingly important component of the country's laboratory infrastructure.
For international manufacturers, distributors and technology providers, Vietnam therefore represents a developing commercial opportunity spanning clinical diagnostics, pharmaceutical and biotechnology R&D, genomics, proteomics, academic research, food safety and environmental testing.