The total number of live births in Singapore in 2022 was 35,605, according to statistics by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

This is a drop of 7.9 per cent from 2021's count of 38,672.

It is also the lowest number of births recorded in Singapore since 1960, according to Singstat.

Conversely, 2022 also saw Singapore record its highest number of registered deaths since 1960, at 26,891, an increase of 10.7 per cent from 2021's figure of 24,292.

Overall, Singapore saw a natural increase of 8,714 for 2022, compared to 14,380 for 2021.

Birth rate was lowest among the Chinese

ICA further stated that out of the total newborns in 2022:

• Chinese newborns accounted for 56.6 per cent with 20,073 births,
• Malays for 22.4 per cent with 7,958 births,
• Indians for 11.4 per cent with 4,071 births and
• Individuals of other races for 9.8 per cent with 3,503 births.

The birth rate was also highest among the Malays with 14.3 births per 1,000 residents, followed by the Indians with 8.3 per 1,000 residents.

The Chinese had the lowest birth rate with 6.5 births per 1,000 residents.

Majority of births registered without the father's name were Chinese

With regard to the number live births among teenagers aged 19 and below for 2022, ICA said the figure stood at 218.

This is a slight decrease of 2.7 per cent compared to the 224 births recorded in 2021.

By proportion, 25.2 per cent of teenage births were born to Chinese, 63.3 per cent to Malays, 8.3 per cent to Indians and 3.2 per cent to other ethnic groups.

As for live births registered without the father's name, ICA said that this stood at 314 for 2022.

In addition, 65 or 20.7 per cent of these births were born to teenagers aged 19 or below.

ICA added that Chinese made up the largest proportion of such births, at 47.1 per cent, followed by the Malays at 37.3 per cent, other ethnic groups at 9.2 per cent and Indians at 6.4 per cent.

Median age of first-time mothers has been rising

As for the median age of first-time mothers, ICA said there is a clear trend of childbirth being delayed to by such mothers to later stages of their lives, based on an analysis of resident birth order data.

For 2022, the median age of first-time mothers at the time of giving birth was 31.9 years, compared to 31.3 in 2021.

ICA further highlighted that among specific ethnic groups, Chinese mothers typically have their first child at the age of 32.5 years, Malay mothers at 28.4 years, and Indian mothers at 31.1 years., while mothers from other ethnic groups have a median age of 32.9 years when having their first child.

As for the education level of first-time mothers, 63.6 per cent had university degrees, while 36.4 per cent had A levels/ diploma/ ITE or a lower qualification.

Most deaths occurred among people aged 60 and above

As for deaths, ICA said that the majority of deaths in 2022, at 23,275 out of 26,891, were aged 60 years and above, making up 86.6 per cent of the total.

By gender, males surpassed females in mortality rates, with 1,188 males for every 1,000 females.

In addition, females also lived longer than males, with the median age at death for males being 75.2 years in 2022, compared to 82.3 years for females.

ICA also noted that the median age at death has been gradually increasing over the years, from 74.9 years in 2013 to 78.5 years in 2022.

With regard to cause of death, ICA said that males had a higher proportion of deaths attributed to heart and hypertensive diseases, as well as accidents.

As for females, they exhibited a higher proportion of deaths associated with kidney and disorders of urinary system, as well as cerebrovascular diseases.

As for the breakdown of deaths by ethnic group, ICA said the majority of the deaths registered in 2022 were Chinese, at 75.8 per cent, while Malays, Indians and other ethnic groups made up 14.2 per cent, 7.8 per cent and 2.1 per cent of deaths respectively.

As for the median age of death, ICA said this stood at 80.4 years for the Chinese, 72.3 years for Malays, 71.9 years for Indians, and 68.2 years for other ethnic groups.

ICA further noted that there was a gap in the median age of death between the Chinese and other ethnic groups in most major causes of death.

Top photo via KK Hospital's Facebook page