The Republic’s population growth was almost flat last
year at 0.1 per, compared to 1.3 per cent growth in the previous
years, amid lesser citizen births and a drop in non-resident
population. The citizen population, however, continues to age.
As of June this year, Singapore’s total population
remained stable at 5.61 million, according to the latest annual
population brief released by the National Population and Talent
Division (NPTD) on Wednesday (Sept 27).
The report revealed that there were lesser citizen
births last year – 33,167 as compared to 33,725 in 2015. Despite
the dip, the number of citizen births remained above the past
decade’s annual average of about 32,200 citizen births.
It also showed that the proportion of citizens aged 65
and above continued to inch up to 14.4 per cent, from 13.7 per cent
last year. Citizens’ median age increased to 41.3 years, from 41
last year.
“With increasing life expectancy and low fertility
rates, the proportion of our citizen population aged 65 years and
above is rising, and doing so at a faster pace compared to the last
decade,” said the NPTD. “We can expect the large cohorts of ‘baby
boomers’ to begin entering the post-65 age range”.
In the past year, the number of citizens rose by 0.9
per cent through births and immigration. Last year, 22,102
individuals were granted citizenship, while the number of permanent
residents held steady at 0.53 million.
The non-resident population fell by 1.6 per cent to
1.65 million, due to a decline in foreign employment last year.
Meanwhile, more Singaporeans got married last year,
with 23,873 citizen marriages recorded, up from 23,805 in 2015.
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