SINGAPORE, DURASI.co.id – Singapore’s total population hit a record 5.92 million, a 5 per cent increase from a year ago.
The population rebounded from declines during the COVID-19 pandemic, and has since exceeded the 2019 population of 5.7 million.
“The total population of 5.92 million as at June 2023 is the highest recorded figure in Singapore’s history,” said the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO).
The figures were published on Friday (Sep 29) in the annual Population in Brief report by the National Population and Talent Division, Prime Minister’s Office.
Of the 5.92 million, there were 4.15 million residents and 1.77 million non-residents, which comprise the foreign workforce, dependants and international students.
Singapore citizens made up 3.61 million or 61 per cent of the total. This is a 1.6 per cent rise from last year. The permanent resident (PR) population increased by 3.7 per cent to 538,600 in June 2023.
The report said that with the easing of travel restrictions related to COVID-19, more citizens and PRs living overseas returned to Singapore. This was the largest contributing factor to the increases in the citizen and PR populations.
The non-resident population jumped 13.1 per cent to 1.77 million, with increases in all work pass types. The largest increase came from work permit holders in construction, marine shipyard and process industries.
The report said the remaining increases in foreign employment were spread across sectors as firms backfilled positions vacated by non-residents during the pandemic.
Taking into account the decline in total population in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, the average total population growth rate over the past five years was comparable to the preceding five-year period, said the report.
In 2021, as borders remained closed, the population fell to 5.45 million, then rose to 5.64 million last year before hitting 5.92 million this June.
From 2013 to 2018, the compound annual growth rate of Singapore’s population was 0.9 per cent, and it was 1 per cent from 2018 to 2023.
Data in the report also shows that citizen marriages in 2022 hit a record high of 24,767, while there were fewer citizen births at 30,429.
Source: CNA/hm(ac)
