2024 is first Dragon Year since 1964 that failed to lift fertility rate here

Experts say financial security, childcare concerns outweigh zodiac considerations

- Theresa Tan Senior Social Affairs Correspondent

So the 2024 Dragon Year failed to deliver the baby boom that was much hoped for.

But more than that, 2024 also marked the first Dragon Year since the 1964 Dragon Year when the overall total fertility rate (TFR) did not rise from the year before, based on public data records since 1960.

Instead, in 2024, Singapore’s resident TFR held steady at 0.97 — a historic low first reached in 2023. It was also the first time the TFR, which refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years, fell below 1.

The latest TFR figures were contained in the Population In Brief 2025 report released by the National Population and Talent Division on Sept 29.

Traditionally, the Dragon Year ~ which comes around every 12 years in the Chinese zodiac calendar — is considered auspicious for births.

Parents once planned to have “Dragon babies”, who are believed to be destined for good fortune, success and leadership, among other desirable traits.

In past cycles, this translated into significant increases: The TFR rose from 1.47 in 1999 to 1.6 in 2000, and from 1.62 in 1987 to 1.96 in 1988.

The years 1988 and 2000 were Dragon Years.

The only other exception was the 1964 Dragon Year, when the TFR fell from the year before.

But that came amid a broader fertility decline in the 1960s as Singapore’s economy developed and family planning policies started to take hold, said the Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) senior research fellow Tan Poh Lin.

Sociologists and academics say that financial security, career development and childcare concerns far outweigh zodiac considerations when it comes to having children these days.