Singapore population sees increase of 3.4% from 2021; 896,700 among 3.55 million citizens are youths

As at June 2022, Singapore’s total population stands at 5.64 million, a 3.4 per cent increase from June 2021. However, it remains slightly lower than the pre-COVID-19 level of 5.70 million in June 2019. 

This is according to the Population in Brief, an annual publication by the National Population and Talent Division under the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) that provides data and key updates on Singapore’s population trends.

Of the 5.64 million people, 3.55 million are Singapore citizens, 0.52 million are Permanent Residents (PR) and 1.56 million are Non-Residents (NR).

The citizen and PR populations increased by 1.6 per cent (3.50 million to 3.55 million) and 6.3 per cent (0.49 million to 0.52 million) respectively between June 2021 and June 2022.

Among citizens, 896,700 are classified as youths. There are 185,000 aged 15 to 19; 215,700 aged 20 to 24; 242,200 aged 25 to 29; and 254,000 aged 30 to 34. 

As at June 2022, the NR population stood at 1.56 million, an increase of 6.6 per cent from June 2021.

The largest increase observed was among Work Permit Holders in the Construction, Marine Shipyard and Process (CMP) sectors. The total number of NR, however, remains lower than the pre-COVID-19 level of 1.68 million in June 2019.

The publication attributed the population increase to the progressive easing of COVID-19 safe management measures and the lifting of travel restrictions as more citizens and PRs living overseas returned to Singapore.

More citizen marriages and a similar number of citizen births in 2021 compared to 2020 were also reported.

In 2021, there were 23,433 citizen marriages, which was 20.6 per cent more than the 19,430 citizen marriages in 2020. This was also higher than the 22,165 citizen marriages in 2019. 

The higher number of citizen marriages in 2021 is partly due to the progressive easing of COVID-19 safe management measures, which enabled some couples to resume their marriage plans in 2021, noted the publication.

About 29 per cent of the marriages involved transnational couples, which is at a similar level in 2020. The proportion of transnational marriages remained lower than that in 2019 (pre-COVID-19) due to COVID-19-related travel restrictions.

About one in six citizen marriages in 2021 were inter-ethnic, similar to the trend observed in previous years.

As for citizen births, there were 31,713 citizen births in 2021, similar to the 31,816 citizen births in 2020. The resident total fertility rate (TFR) recovered slightly from the historic low of 1.10 in 2020 to 1.12 in 2021. However, this was still lower than the pre-COVID level of 1.14 in 2019.

“Our TFR has generally been declining for the past few decades, largely due to the rising proportion of singles, later marriages, and married couples having fewer children,” announced the publication.

The median age of citizen mothers at first birth was 31.0 years in 2021, higher than the median age of 29.8 years in 2011.

Another notable finding is the proportion of singles among citizen males and females aged 25 to 34.

For males aged 25 to 29, the proportion of singles has increased from 82.9 per cent in 2020 to 84.3 per cent in 2021. As for males aged 30 to 34, the proportion of singles has increased from 43.8 per cent in 2020 to 47 per cent in 2021.

For females aged 25 to 29, the proportion of singles has increased from 71.3 per cent in 2020 to 71.7 per cent in 2021. As for females aged 30 to 34, the proportion of singles has increased from 35.7 per cent in 2020 to 37.4 in 2021.

The publication emphasised that the Singapore society must do their part to “build a Singapore that is made of families”. 

“Supporting marriage and parenthood continues to be our priority. While the Government has a suite of measures to support Singaporeans in starting and raising families, employers, community partners and individuals can all do their part to create a stronger family-friendly ecosystem of support,” said the publication. 

“This can range from workplaces that promote work-life harmony to community groups that work with the Government to care for and uplift families with more complex needs.”