S'pore's population falls by 0.3% as number of foreigners declines

The total population decreased by 0.3% to 5.69 million.

Jane Zhang | September 24, 2020, 05:10 PM

Singapore’s total population as of Jun. 2020 is 5.69 million, a 0.3 per cent decrease from Jun. 2019.

This decrease was largely due to the decrease in the non-resident population, according to Population in Brief 2020, an annual publication by National Population and Talent Division.

Citizen population grew while foreigners decreased

The number of Singapore citizens grew by 0.6 per cent to reach 3.52 million as of Jun. 2020.

The citizen population continues to age steadily, with 16.8 per cent at or above the age of 65, up 0.8 per cent from 16 per cent in 2019.

The permanent resident population remained relatively stable over the past year, decreasing slightly from 525,300 in Jun. 2019 to 521,000 in Jun 2020.

Meanwhile, the non-resident population is 1.64 million as of Jun. 2020, a decrease of 2.1 per cent from Jun. 2019.

According to the report, this was largely due to a reduction in foreign employment in the services sector between Jun. 2019 and Jun. 2020.

Out of the different passes, Work Permit Holders saw the largest decrease.

These trends were reportedly largely due to Covid-19 related challenges, caused by weak demand and travel restrictions.

via Population in Brief 2020.

Here is a breakdown of Singapore's total population, as of Jun. 2020:

via Population in Brief 2020.

Other notable statistics

In 2019, there were 22,165 citizen marriages. This is down from 23,632 citizen marriages in 2018.

Over the last five years, from 2015 to 2019, there were an average of about 23,600 citizen marriages each year. This was an increase from the average of 22,400 each year in the previous five years (from 2010 to 2014).

The number of citizen births increased slightly, from 32,413 in 2018 to 32,844 in 2019.

Over the last five years from 2015 to 2019, there were about 32,900 citizen births on average each year. This is higher than the average of 31,700 each year in the previous five years (2010 to 2014).

The resident total fertility rate remained at 1.14 per cent in 2019, the same as it was in 2018.

Totally unrelated but follow and listen to our podcast here

Top photo by Maverick Asio/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images.