logo

Singapore Population 2024

by

Singapore is located at the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula. The main island is separated from Peninsular Malaysia to the north by Johor Strait, a narrow channel crossed by a road and rail causeway around half a mile long. Singapore population 2024 is estimated to be 5.98 million, covering an area of 728.3 sq km (281.2 sq mi). Singapore's total population grew 3.4% by 2023 after shrinking for the prior two years during the Covid-era. Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the world. Once a British colony and now a member of the Commonwealth. Singapore has become an independent state on August 9, 1965. Singapore is both a country and its capital. The earliest records of settlement on the island date back to the 2nd century, where the island was a trading port which was part of a chain of similar trading centres that linked Southeast Asia with the Tamil Indians and the Mediterranean. The population of Singapore is diverse, three-fourths of population are Chinese, followed by Malays and Indians. Singapore is second richest country in Asia. The name Singapore is Malay native name is Singapura, which was in turn derived from the Sanskrit word meaning "Lion City" (Singam means Lion in Tamil), is believed to be named around 13th century during Srivijaya empire in Indonesia.

Total population in 2020 is 5.68 million decreased compared to 2019 population of 5.70 million. As of June 2020, Singapore's population stood at 5.70 million. A large percentage of its population are not permanent residents, 4.03 million were residents (citizens & permanent residents), and 1.68 million were non-residents. According to singstat the Singapore population from 1951 to 2020 as below:

YearTotal Population(Number)
19511,068,100
19551,305,500
19601,646,400
19651,886,900
19702,074,507
19752,262,600
19802,413,945
19852,735,957
19903,047,132
19953,524,506
20004,027,887
20054,265,762
20105,076,732
20155,535,002
20205,685,807

Population Indicators
Fertility Rate1.2

Singapore Population Indicators
Fertility rate is 1.2 births per woman in 2017.


Religions in Singapore

Singapore population by religion, It is the world's most religiously diverse nation. Buddhism was introduced in Singapore primarily by migrants from across the world over past centuries. In the seventh century Hindu Srivijaya empire trading around this region influenced Buddhism and Hinduism. By the 10th century, Chola empire from south India influence arrived Hinduism. In the early 19th century Hindu immigrants to Singapore from southern India, mostly Tamils, brought in to work as labourers by the British East India Company in Singapore. In today's generation Buddhism is the most widely practised religion in Singapore with 33% of the resident population, followed by Christianity with 18%, Islam with 14%, Taoism with 10%, and Hinduism. Hindus are a minority, constituting about 6.5% of Singapore citizens and permanent residents in 2020. The Chinese are predominantly followers of Buddhism, Taoism and Christianity, Malays are Muslims, and Indians are Hindus, but with significant numbers of Muslims and Sikhs from the Indian ethnic groups.


Racial Groups in Singapore

Many of these early migrants were predominantly male and they would usually return to their home countries after they had earned enough money. By the year 1871, due to the influx of migrants from Malaya, China, India and other parts of Asia, Singapore's population had reached nearly 100,000, with over half of them being Chinese. By the early to mid twentieth century, an increasingly significant number of migrant workers chose to stay permanently, with their descendants forming the bulk of Singapore's population today. Singapore population by race, As of June 2020 stats, there were around 2.6 ethnic Chinese residents in Singapore, followed by 529 thousand Malays, 262 thousand Indians and 54 thousands are other ethnic groups. Below is the Singapore population by race from 1970 to 2020. As of June 2020, Chinese made up 74.3 per cent of the resident population. This was followed by Malays at 13.5 per cent, and Indians at 9.0 per cent.

EthnicityTotal CitizenTotal MalaysTotal ChineseTotal IndiansOther Ethnic Groups
19701,874,778264,3611,478,200112,68319,534
19802,194,280306,0271,740,862128,96918,422
19902,623,736373,7862,046,422178,57224,956
20002,985,886443,4242,295,068215,15032,244
20103,230,719487,7582,461,852237,47343,636
20203,523,191529,9542,675,521262,86054,856


Languages in Singapore

Official languages of Singapore are English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil. Language frequently spoken at home are, 36.9% are English speakers, 34.9% speak Mandarin, 10.7% speak Malay, 3.3% speak Tamil. Malay is the national language while English is the main working language.

Total population comprises Singapore residents and non-residents. Resident population comprises Singapore citizens and permanent residents. Non-resident population comprises foreigners who are working, studying or living in Singapore but not granted permanent residence, excluding tourists and short-term visitors. Singapore's resident population was 4.04 million as of June 2020, an increase of 0.4 per cent from the previous year. The Singapore citizen population grew by 0.6 per cent over the previous year to 3.52 million while the permanent resident population remained stable at 0.52 million. Overall, Singapore’s total population decreased slightly by 0.3 per cent from the previous year to 5.69 million as of Jun 2020, largely due to the 2.1 per cent decrease in the non-resident population to 1.64 million as of Jun 2020. The median age of the resident population rose further to reach 41.5 years as of June 2020, from 41.1 years in 2019. The proportion of the elderly residents aged 65 years and over also rose from 14.4 per cent to 15.2 per cent over the same period. Among the resident population, the number of females continued to be higher than males. The sex ratio was 957 males per 1,000 females as of June 2020. Below is the Singapore population proportion of Resident population, Citizen population, Permanent Resident and Non-Resident population. The average household size among resident households decreased from 3.53 persons in 2012 to 3.16 persons in 2019. Singapore population 2023 is estimated to be 5.68 million, population 2022 is estimated to be 5.5 million, and in 2021 is estimated to be 5.6 million.

Variables19801990200020102020
Total Population2,413,9453,047,1324,027,8875,076,7325,685,807
Resident Population2,282,1252,735,8683,273,3633,771,7214,044,210
Singapore Citizen Population2,194,2802,623,7362,985,8863,230,7193,523,191
Permanent Resident Population87,845112,132287,477541,002521,019
Non-resident Population131,820311,264754,5241,305,0111,641,597
Total Population Growth %1.52.31.71.8-0.3
Resident Population Growth %1.31.71.410.4
Population Density per sq km3,9074,8145,9007,1467,810
Sex Ratio(Males Per Thousand Females)1,0321,027998974957
Median Age Of Resident Population(Years)24.429.83437.441.5
Median Age Of Citizen Population(Years)23.929.634.338.642.2
Natural Increase(Number)28,71237,25131,30420,35716,705
Rate Of Natural Increase(Per Thousand Residents)12.713.59.24.93.3
Singapore is a multi-ethnic, multi-cultural and multi-lingual country, and Singaporeans of Chinese, Malay, Indian and Eurasian descent have made up the vast majority of the population since the 19th century. As of June 2020, 52.4 per cent of the 4.04 million residents in Singapore were concentrated in the top 9 planning areas. There were four planning areas with more than 250,000 residents, namely Bedok, Jurong West, Tampines and Woodlands. Bedok had the highest number of residents of any planning area, with 276,990 residents.
RegionsRegional CentreArea sq kmPopulationDensity per sq km
Central RegionCentral Area (de facto)132.79,22,9806,955
East RegionTampines93.16,86,0507,369
North RegionWoodlands134.55,73,9504,267
North-East RegionSeletar103.99,21,9408,873
West RegionJurong East201.39,21,3404,577


Population Projection

The rate refers to the average number of live-births each female would have during her reproductive years if she were subject to the prevailing age-specific fertility rates in the population in a given year. There were 39,279 live-births in 2019, an increase of 0.6 per cent from the 39,039 live births in 2018. Similarly, the number of resident births (i.e. births with at least one parent who is a Singapore citizen or permanent resident) also rose by 0.8 per cent from 35,040 in 2018 to 35,330 in 2019. The yearly average number of resident births over the last five years fell to 36,110 as compared to 36,719 from the preceding 5 years. Singapore's resident total fertility rate (TFR) remained at 1.14 births per female in 2019, the same as 2018. In 2019, the resident TFR rose for the Chinese and fell for the Malays and Indians. The TFR remained the highest for the Malays at 1.80 births per female in 2019, followed by 0.99 for the Chinese and 0.98 for the Indians. Compared to a decade ago, age specific fertility rates fell for those aged below 35 years in 2019, and rose for those aged 35 years and over. Fertility rate has been the highest among females aged 30-34 years compared to the other age groups since 2002. Among resident ever-married females aged 30 years and over in 2019, those with two children continued to form the mode. Specifically, 34.9 per cent among those aged 30-39 years,43.0 per cent among those aged 40-49 years and 37.5 per cent among those aged 50 years and above had given birth to two children. The average number of children born to resident ever-married females aged 40-49 years fell from 2.03 in 2009 to 1.79 in 2019.

YearPopulation (Millions)
20205.850
20215.919
20225.997
20236.082
20246.166
20256.246
20306.581
20356.839
20407.017
20457.138
20507.245
20557.379
20607.534
Source:UN Population Stats

As the population continues to age, the number of total deaths rose from 21,282 in 2018 to 21,446 in 2019. The resident crude death rate remained at 5.0 deaths per 1,000 residents. Reflecting the improvements in health and mortality, the resident age-standardised death rate3 which takes into account the population age structure, continues to decline from 2.9 deaths per 1,000 residents in 2018 to 2.8 deaths in 2019. The age standardised death rate has been on a downward trend since 1970. The infant mortality rate remained stable over the last decade, at 2.2 infant deaths per 1,000 resident live-births in 2009 to 1.7 in 2019. Compared to 10 years ago, Singapore residents can expect to live longer. Life expectancy at birth for residents continued to rise over the decade from 81.4 years in 2009 to 83.6 years in 2019. Females continued to have longer life expectancy than males, with a difference of 4.3 years in 2019. Similarly, life expectancy at age 65 years also improved, from 19.6 years in 2009 to 21.3 years in 2019. Life expectancy at age 65 years was 22.9 years for resident females, 3.3 years longer than that of resident males at 19.6 years.

© 2019-2024 PopulationU, Research papers on Population dynamics and Social affairs, Contact | Privacy | About | Terms | company profile