Number of babies born in 2023 falls to lowest in at least past 50 years

ICA data also shows number of deaths has been rising steadily in past decade

- Theresa Tan

The number of babies born in 2023 fell to the lowest in at least the past 50 years, entrenching Singapore’s great baby drought.

A total of 33,541 babies were born in 2023 – a 5.8 per cent fall from the 35,605 babies born in 2022. The 2023 figure is 13.3 per cent lower than the 38,672 babies born in 2021.

The number of babies born in 2023 is contained in the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2023 published by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) on July 11.

The 2023 figure is the lowest since at least 1971, when 47,088 babies were born. The Straits Times found births and deaths statistics dating back to 1971 in past years’ reports posted on the ICA website.

In February, it was announced that the resident total fertility rate (TFR) fell to below 1 for the first time in Singapore’s history, though the actual number of babies born in 2023 was not stated.

The TFR, which refers to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years, was 0.97 in 2023 – one of the lowest in the world.

While the number of births has been falling, the number of deaths has been climbing steadily in the past decade.

A total of 26,888 people died in 2023, just 0.01 per cent lower than the 26,891 deaths in 2022. The 2023 figure was 10.7 per cent higher than the 24,292 deaths in 2021.