More births behind population rise

Singapore's total population reached 5.61 million in June, up by 1.3 per cent from the previous June, latest population figures released yesterday showed.

The number of residents and foreigners saw stable growth, similar to the past few years, but small shifts in the make-up of the population are taking place.

Last year saw the highest annual number of Singaporean babies born in over a decade.

More maids are also working here to take care of children and the rising number of elderly people. And more dependents on Long-Term Visit Passes are here to be with their Singaporean family members.

These developments reflect the calibrated approach to immigration over the past five years.

The trends are also likely to persist as baby-boomers' children start families, while their parents' generation gets older, observers said.

"The trends, particularly the need for foreign domestic workers, will continue, given our rapidly ageing population," said National University of Singapore sociology professor Tan Ern Ser.

But this dependence could be lessened if seniors stay healthy longer and relatives or neighbours help take care of them. More locals could also take up caregiving jobs, he added.

This year's Population in Brief report showed the citizen population grew by 1 per cent, or some 34,000 people, to 3.41 million this June.

There were just under 30,000 new permanent residents last year, a figure that has stayed fairly constant since 2012.

The non-resident pool grew by 2.5 per cent over the same period, to 1.67 million people.

Last year also saw a bumper crop of 33,725 citizen births. This was the highest number of births in more than a decade.

Citizen marriages were similarly up - the 23,805 marriages last year was above the average of 21,900 marriages a year over the past decade.

Singapore continues to age, with more baby boomers - those born from 1947 to 1965 - retiring.

There are now 4.7 working-age citizens to each citizen aged 65 and above, compared with 6.9 in 2006.

Kang Soon Hock, who heads the social science core at SIM University, said the figures may spur a rethink of the retirement age and making sure people have enough for retirement.

This dependency ratio is projected to hit 2.3 in 2030, and the report said this trend "can only be alleviated over the longer term with more citizen births and immigration".

The Government said it will continue to grant between 15,000 and 25,000 new citizenships a year, mostly to those with family ties or who studied, worked or lived here.

charyong@sph.com.sg

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