Census 2020: Singapore records slowest population growth since independence; increase in single individuals

Between the year 2010 and 2020, Singapore’s total population recorded its lowest growth since independence as it grew by only 1.1 percent a year. This is a decrease from the 2.5 percent per year growth recorded between 2000 and 2010.

This is one of the many findings stated in the first statistical release by the Department of Statistic (DOS) on the country’s census of the population in 2020.

The census, which is Singapore’s largest national statistical exercises, is carried out once a decade to gather demographics, social and economic data, among others. The Census 2020 surveyed 150,000 households last year, and was released by the DOS on Wednesday (16 June).

“It tells us where we were, where we’re at now, and identifies some of the things that we need to address going forwards,” said Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, who oversees the National Population and Talent Division.

Although some of the data collected will be affected as the survey was conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the census captures “broad trends over the decade… notwithstanding the blips over the last one and a half years”, she said.

Based on the findings, it was revealed that the country’s total population grew from 5.08 million in 2010 to 5.69 million in 2020.

Of these figures, the citizen population increased from 3.23 million to 3.52 million in the last decade, whereas the permanent resident population remained “stable” at around 0.5 million.

As for the number of non-residents, it increased from 1.31 million to 1.64 million.

Besides that, the DOS also pointed out that the ethic compositions of the resident population remained “stable”, with 74.3 percent Chinese, 13.5 percent Malay and 9.0 percent Indian in 2020.

Additionally, Singapore’s population also continued to age over the years. In 2020, 15.2 percent of the resident population was aged 65 and above, which is an increase from 9 percent in 2010.

The median age of the resident population also shot up to 41.5 years in 2020, compared to 37.4 years in 2010.

Increase in number of singles in Singapore

The data also found that the number of single people in Singapore has rose across different age groups over the last decade. However, the increase is most prominent for residents aged 25-34 years old.

Between 2010 and 2020, the proportion of singles among residents aged 25-29 years rose from 74.6 percent to 81.6 percent for males, and from 54.0 percent to 69.0 percent for females.

Similarly, the proportion of singles among those aged 30-34 years rose from 37.1 percent to 41.9 percent for males and from 25.1 percent to 32.8 percent for females over the same period.

Drop in births

The DOS also showed that females generally had fewer children in 2020 compared to a decade earlier.

Among female residents aged 15 and above who have ever been married, the average number of children born decreased across all age brackets. The average dropped from 2.24 children per woman in 2010, to 2.04 in 2020.

As for females aged 40-49 years who have ever been married, the number of children they had also decreased from 2.02 per female in 2010 to 1.76 per female in 2020.

The census also found out that the lower averages we also witnessed across all education groups, adding that higher educated females had fewer children on average than those with lower education qualifications.

Among resident ever-married females aged 40- 49 years, university graduates had an average of 1.66 children in 2020, lower than the average of 1.94 children among those with secondary qualification.

More information from the census will be released on Friday (18 June).