Parliament
Suicide leading cause of death for NSFs in service from 2016 to 2025, but lower than national average
"Beyond these numbers, every death represents a tragic loss of life, leaving behind grieving families and loved ones."
November 04, 2026, 11:17 AM
Image via Mindef/Facebook
An average of 10 to 11 full-time national servicemen (NSFs) died while in service per year between 2016 and 2025, according to defence minister Chan Chun Sing.
This is against the 45,000 male Singaporeans and Permanent Residents who serve their full-time national service in the Singapore Armed Forces (SAF), Singapore Police Force (SPF) and the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) per year.
Chan was responding to a parliamentary question filed by the Workers' Party's MP Fadli Fawzi on Nov. 3, where he asked for the statistics of unnatural NSF deaths in that timeframe, the main causes of death and what is being done to reduce the incidence of such deaths.
Suicide the leading cause
He said that the leading cause of NSF deaths during these years was suicide, followed by road traffic accidents.
This trend is consistent with the national trend for males aged 10 to 30.
An average of about four NSFs died per year due to suicide, said Chan.
This translates to an average annual suicide rate of 0.009 per cent, which sits lower than the national suicide rate of 0.014 per cent for males in 2024.
"Beyond these numbers, every death represents a tragic loss of life, leaving behind grieving families and loved ones," he added.
"We take every loss of life seriously, and our deepest condolences go out to the families affected."
Chan said that each death is thoroughly investigated and measures are put in place to reduce the likelihood of recurrence where relevant.
