Number of people recorded sleeping rough dips 6% in 2025

MSF announces new fund to trial solutions, address underlying causes of rough sleeping

- Syarafana Shafeeq

The number of people who spend the night on Singapore's streets has dipped by 6 per cent, from 530 in 2022 to 496 in 2025, according to a Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) report released on Jan 9.

To strengthen support for this group, MSF announced a new $450,000 fund that would provide grants for organisations to trial solutions that address the underlying causes of rough sleeping.

It will also redesign units at two transitional shelters in Yio Chu Kang and Jalan Kukoh to improve privacy and provide more storage space for residents, with the aim of improving the take-up rate for these spaces.

The ministry conducted a nationwide street count of rough sleepers on July 18, 2025, building on the data from its previous street count done in 2022. Earlier counts had been carried out by the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy in 2019 and 2021.

In 2025, the highest number of rough sleepers was found in Bukit Merah, Jurong West and Bedok.

The demographics of those found sleeping rough were similar to those of 2022, with about 85 per cent male and more than half aged above 50. About half were Chinese, while Malays and Indians each made up about 20 per cent of this population.

Most slept near HDB blocks and in sheltered and well-lit places such as parks and commercial areas like malls and offices, which was similar to 2022's findings.

Volunteers then carried out a survey that involved 128 rough sleepers, or about a quarter of the number sighted during the street count.