S'pore population up 1.2% to 6.ll million due to more non-residents

Population continues to age rapidly; 1.2% increase in number of citizen births

- Theresa Tan

Singapore's population grew by 1.2 per cent in the past year, with 6.11 million people calling the little red dot home as at June 2025.

The increase was mainly due to growth in the nonresident population, such as work permit holders in the construction sector and domestic helpers, said the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD), which released the Population in Brief 2025 report on Sept 29.

Meanwhile, the nation's population continued to age rapidly, and a higher proportion of Singaporeans remained single.

There was a spot of good news on the baby front, though.

In 2024, there were 29,237 citizen births, which refers to babies with at least one Singaporean parent. This is a 1.2 per cent increase from 28,877 such babies born in 2023.

The Republic's resident total fertility rate, which reached a historic low in 2023, remained unchanged at 0.97 in 2024. The figure refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years.

As at June 2025, Singapore had 3.66 million citizens, a slight increase from 3.64 million citizens a year ago. The number of permanent residents (PRs) remained unchanged at 0.54 million.

The remaining 1.91 million people were nonresidents, with the foreign workforce making up about two-thirds of this group. The remaining one-third comprised mainly domestic helpers, dependants and students.

Among new citizens in 2024, almost two in three, or 64.3 per cent, came from Southeast Asia. Close to one in three, or 32.8 per cent, was from other Asian countries, while fewer than 3 per cent hailed from elsewhere.