Singapore’s population now stands at 5.61m

In its latest population brief the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) which is under the purview of the Prime Minister’s Office said that the total population of Singapore has grown by 1.3 percent to 5.61 million from June 2015 to June 2016.

In its media release NPTD pointed out the key highlight of the past year as such:

• Citizen births in 2015 were the highest in more than a decade, at 33,725 births. This was higher than in 2012, a Dragon year. There were 23,805 citizen marriages in 2015, significantly above this decade’s average of about 21,900 citizen marriages.
• The citizen population grew at a similar pace as last year, with 3.41 million citizens as of end June 2016. This is due to citizen births and a calibrated approach to immigration. The citizen population continues to age, with 13.7% aged 65 and above compared with 13.1% last year. The permanent resident population remained relatively stable at 0.52 million.
• The non-resident population grew by 2.5% to 1.67 million. There was stronger growth in the number of Foreign Domestic Workers and dependants of Singaporeans who are on Long-Term Visit Passes.

NPTD further said that foreign employment growth remained low compared to the earlier part of the decade, and that foreign workforce growth will be moderated to supplement the local workforce in a sustainable manner.

The population growth is in line with the Population White Paper which projected a population of 6.9 million here in the year 2030.

The paper said: “Singapore’s total population of residents and non-residents could be between 5.8 million and 6 million in 2020, depending on changes to our birth rates, life expectancy, and our social and economic needs…Singapore’s total population could reach between 6.5 and 6.9 million by 2030.”
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Source: NPTD