SINGAPORE: More young Singapore residents are choosing to stay single, families are having fewer children, and English is becoming the main language spoken at home, according to the latest General Household Survey.
The findings, released by the Department of Statistics on Tuesday (June 30), offer one of the clearest snapshots yet of how daily life in Singapore has changed over the past five years.
The survey also found that residents are becoming more educated, household incomes have risen after adjusting for inflation, and home ownership has increased. Singapore’s resident population stood at 4.20 million in 2025, Channel NewsAsia (CNA) reports (June 30).
More young adults are delaying marriage or staying single
The biggest jump in singlehood was seen among residents below 40.
Among women aged 25 to 29, 73.4 per cent had never married in 2025, up from 69 per cent in 2020. For men, the largest increase was among those aged 30 to 34, with the share rising from 41.9 per cent to 47.6 per cent.
The survey also found different patterns across education levels. Among men in their 40s, those with lower educational qualifications were more likely to be single. Among women aged 30 to 49, singlehood was more common among those with higher educational qualifications.
Even so, married couples with children still made up the largest household type. They accounted for 47.6 per cent of resident households, down from 50.4 per cent five years earlier.
The numbers suggest marriage continues to be the norm for many Singaporeans, although more people are taking longer to reach that stage or choosing a different path altogether.
Families are getting smaller
The survey found that married women were having fewer children than before. Among ever-married women aged 40 to 49, the average number of children fell from 1.76 in 2020 to 1.67 in 2025.
The share of women with at least two children also slipped from 62.5 per cent to 58.4 per cent, although most still had two or more children.
Education linked to family size. University graduates in the same age group had an average of 1.59 children, compared with 1.84 among women with a secondary school or lower qualification.
These figures add to Singapore’s long-running challenge of low birth rates, even as successive governments have rolled out measures to encourage marriage and parenthood.
English strengthens its place at home
English widened its lead as the language residents spoke most frequently at home. Among residents aged five and above, 58.1 per cent mainly spoke English at home in 2025, up from 48.3 per cent in 2020.
Most English-speaking households still use another language. About four in five also spoke a vernacular language as their second most-used language, indicating bilingualism in many homes.
The use of Chinese dialects almost halved over five years, dropping from 8.7 per cent to 4.9 per cent. Mandarin also declined from 29.9 per cent to 26.6 per cent.
The survey also found that more residents, especially in the Chinese community, spoke only English and didn’t regularly use a second language.
More residents report having no religion
A larger share of residents also said they had no religious affiliation. Young people led this change the most.
Among residents aged 15 to 24, 26.8 per cent reported having no religion in 2025, compared with 19.4 per cent of those aged 55 and above.
The increase was observed across all education levels.
Among university graduates, the share identifying as having no religion rose from 27.8 per cent to 31.6 per cent. During the same period, the proportion identifying as Christians fell from 28.3 per cent to 24.9 per cent.
Education, income and homeownership continue to rise
The survey also painted a positive picture in several areas of daily life. Residents were becoming better educated, with 64.8 per cent of those aged 25 and above holding post-secondary or higher qualifications, up from 58.3 per cent in 2020.
Median monthly household market income increased from S$9,099 to S$12,446, equivalent to annual real growth of about 3.2 per cent after inflation.
Homeownership also climbed from 87.9 per cent to 91.2 per cent. Public transport is still the preferred mode of travel to work, with 60.1 per cent of employed residents commuting by bus, MRT, LRT, or a combination of these services.
The General Household Survey gathered responses from 27,324 households and achieved an overall response rate of 86.8 per cent.
Singapore’s population has never stood still. Each survey captures another chapter of how people live, work and build families. These numbers can’t tell every personal story, but they do show that priorities and lifestyles are changing.
Understanding those changes helps, as good policies begin with knowing how people are actually living, not how we expect them to live.
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