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National Population and Talent Division
Press Releases

Population in Brief 2013

26 September 2013

Find out key facts about Singapore's population in 2013, including its slowest growth in nine years, an ageing citizen population, and improved birth rates.

SLOWEST POPULATION GROWTH IN NINE YEARS

Population in Brief is an annual publication released by the National Population and Talent Division since 2008. Population in Brief 2013 contains a collation of key population indicators and demographic trends over the past year.

The Singapore population grew by 1.6 %, the slowest growth in the past nine years. As of June 2013, Singapore’s total population was 5.40 million.

The citizen population grew by 0.9% to 3.31 million -­ and continued to grow older, with 11.7% aged 65 and above. The ethnic profile of the citizen population continues to remain stable. Meanwhile, the permanent resident (PR) population remained stable at 0.53 million.

Growth in the non-­resident population slowed, mainly due to slower foreign employment growth. Growth in foreign employment in the non-­construction sectors slowed to about half compared to the year before, while the bulk of foreign employment growth was from the construction sector to support key infrastructure projects such as housing and transport.

More Singaporeans are getting married, and our birth rates have improved. Our resident Total Fertility Rate (TFR) increased from 1.20 in 2011 to 1.29 in 2012, with improvements seen across all ethnic groups.