SINGAPORE: Singapore's Total Fertility Rate (TFR) increased from 1.20 in 2011 to 1.29 in 2012. This is according to the Population in Brief Report 2013 released by the National Population and Talent Division in the Prime Minister's Office. The improvement in TFR was seen across all ethnic groups, with Chinese experiencing the largest increase. The TFR for Malays continued to be the highest among the major ethnic groups. However, the overall TFR has remained below the replacement level of 2.1 for more than three decades. The report stressed that efforts must be continued to provide a supportive environment for Singaporean to achieve their aspirations of getting married and having children. Singapore's total population grew by 1.6 per cent last year. This is the slowest growth rate in the last nine years. As of end-June 2013, Singapore's total population was 5.40 million. Singapore citizens made up 3.31 million while there were 0.53 million permanent residents. Non-residents comprising work pass holders, dependents, and international students numbered 1.55 million -- The report noted that growth in the non-resident population slowed. There was also slower growth in foreign employment due to tightened foreign manpower policies and weaker economic conditions. Growth in foreign employment (excluding foreign domestic workers) in the non-construction sectors halved to 3.5 per cent compared to 7.1 per cent the year before. The report noted that foreign employment growth was mainly driven by the construction sector to support the major ongoing infrastructure developments in housing and transport. Singapore's citizen population continues to age -- the proportion of those aged 65 years and above increased from 7.8 per cent in 2002 in 11.7 per cent in 2013. The median age of the citizen population rose from 35.3 years in 2002 to 40.0 years in 2013. There are fewer working-age adults to each citizen above the age of 65 -- for each citizen aged 65 years and above, there are 5.5 citizens in the working-age band of 20-64 years. This is a sharp decline from 8.4 in 2000. More Singaporeans are also getting married -- the number of marriages involving at least one citizen increased to 23,192 in 2012 from 22,712 in 2011. The report added that over the last five years, there were 20,000 new citizens. New citizens are drawn from the pool of existing Permanent Residents (PRs). Since the tightening of the immigration framework in late 2009, the number of PRs has decreased from an average of 58,000 a year from 2004 to 2008 to about 30,000 new PRs a year in the last three years. www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/singapore-s-total/827740.html

• published: 26 Sep 2013
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