The figure continues the encouraging trend of rising live births since 2004 amid efforts to boost the country's population.

Foreigners are playing an increasingly significant role in the uptrend, as the Government makes attracting immigrants here a key plank of its population strategy.

Non-Singaporean fathers accounted for 25 per cent - or slightly more than 4,000 - of the newborns, according to data released yesterday by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority's Registry of Births and Deaths.

Non-Singaporean mothers formed an even bigger proportion: 36 per cent.

Contrast this to the year 2000, when such data was first made public.

Then, non-Singaporean dads and mums accounted for just 18 and 27 per cent of newborns respectively.

Now - as then - Malaysians topped the list.

They were the dads in 1,184 births and the mums in 1,715 births.

Among the fathers who are foreigners, those from the Indian subcontinent - India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka - form the second-largest group, with 668 births.

They are followed by Chinese, with 365 births.

However, among the mothers who are foreigners, those from China are the second-most productive, giving birth to 1,053 babies.

Those from the seven Asean countries, excluding Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia, formed the third-largest group, with 800 births.

Demographic expert Yap Mui Teng, of the Institute of Policy Studies, attributes the difference to more Singaporean men marrying women from countries like Vietnam.

As for the general rise in births, there are several factors, she said.

'The marriage and parenthood measures announced in August 2004, better economic times and more jobs, and those who may have postponed their births previously having their babies now - it could be a combination of all of these factors.'

In 2004, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong unveiled a $300 million package to encourage parenthood. It includes such measures as longer paid maternity leave and tax rebates.

Another prong in the population policy is to attract immigrants. Foreigners now make up one million of the 4.6 million people here.

About 46,900 of them became permanent residents in the first nine months of last year.

Among the new faces is Indian national Sejal Shaishav Merchant, 33, a marketing executive in a trading company.

A PR, she gave birth to her second child here three months ago.

She and her husband, a general manager in an information technology firm, may eventually take up Singapore citizenship.

'It's a nice country to stay in, with so many international schools coming up,' she said. 'It's good for children to be brought up here as it's a wholesome place and not too racist.'

xueying@sph.com.sg