Singapore’s total population touch new high at 5.92 million: Government

Singapore's population grew by 5 per cent on the year to 5.92 million as of June 2023, the highest recorded figure in the history of the city-state.

Singapore: Singapore’s population grew by 5 per cent on the year to 5.92 million as of June 2023, the highest recorded figure in the history of the city-state, according to an official report released on Friday.

The figure was released by the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) in the annual Population in Brief report by the National Population and Talent Division.

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“The total population of 5.92 million as of June 2023 is the highest recorded figure in Singapore’s history,” the PMO said.

The population rebounded from declines during the COVID-19 pandemic and has since exceeded the 2019 population of 5.7 million.

In 2021, as borders remained closed, the population fell to 5.45 million, then rose to 5.65 million last year before hitting 5.92 million this June.

The report said that with the easing of travel restrictions related to COVID-19, more citizens and PRs living overseas returned to Singapore.

This was the largest contributing factor to the increase in the citizen and PR populations.

Singapore citizens made up 3.61 million or 61 per cent of the total population. This is a 1.6 per cent rise from last year. The permanent resident (PR) population increased by 3.7 per cent to 538,600 in June 2023.

Of the 5.92 million in the multi-national city-state, there were 4.15 million residents and 1.77 million non-residents, which comprise the foreign workforce, dependants and international students, reported Channel News Asia, citing the report.

The non-resident population jumped 13.1 per cent to 1.77 million, with increases in all work pass types.

The largest increase came from work permit holders in construction, marine shipyard and process industries.

The report said the remaining increases in foreign employment were spread across sectors as firms backfilled positions vacated by non-residents during the pandemic.

According to a June 16, 2021 report, the ethnic composition of the resident population has remained stable in Singapore – with 74.3 per cent Chinese, 13.5 per cent Malays and 9 per cent Indians.

Taking into account the decline in total population in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the total population growth rate over the past five years was comparable to the preceding five-year period, said the report.

From 2013 to 2018, the compound annual growth rate of Singapore’s population was 0.9 per cent, and it was 1 per cent from 2018 to 2023.

By 2030, around one in four citizens, or 24.1 per cent, will be aged 65 and above, according to the report, adding that large cohorts of “baby boomers” – who are those born between 1946 and 1964 – have begun entering the post-65 age range.

These individuals would be aged between 59 and 77 in 2023.

There were 30,429 citizen births in 2022, down 4 per cent from 31,713 in 2021, with the resident total fertility rate (TFR) reaching a historic low of 1.04 in 2022.