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Singapore's population is ageing rapidly, with the proportion of citizens aged 65 and above increasing to 18.4 per cent in 2022.
This is a spike from 11.1 per cent in 2012, said the annual Population In Brief report released on Tuesday. It was 17.6 per cent in 2021.
By 2030, around one in four citizens, or 23.8 per cent, will be aged 65 and above. The report by the Government's National Population and Talent Division provides an update on Singapore's key population trends over the past year.
The population of Singapore grew by 3.4 per cent over the past year to reach 5.64 million in June, it revealed. The growth reversed two consecutive years of population decline but was still below the 5.7 million recorded in 2019.
The easing of pandemic safety measures and travel curbs made it easier for citizens and permanent residents (PRs) to return to Singapore and facilitated the hiring of work permit holders.
Fewer pandemic health restrictions also resulted in an increase in citizen marriages - from 19,430 in 2020 to 23,433 in 2021.
The National Population and Talent Division also reported that 22,165 marriages were recorded in 2019. There were 31,713 citizen births in 2021, a slight decrease from the 31,816 in 2020.
The resident total fertility rate recovered slightly to 1.12 births per woman in 2021 from the historic low of 1.1 in 2020. The figure for 2019 was 1.14.
While the relaxing of curbs has helped boost the population and marriages, long-term issues like low total fertility rate and the ageing population remain.
From 2017 to 2021, citizen births averaged 32,200 per year - a drop from the 2012 to 2016 average of 32,900. This was due to fewer births in 2020 and 2021, partly because of delays in marriage and childbearing plans arising from Covid-19 uncertainties, said the report.
The number of citizens increased from 3.5 million in June 2021 to 3.55 million in June 2022, while the number of PRs increased from 490,000 to 520,000 over the same period.
The Straits Times
