By South China Morning Post | Created at 2024-09-25 01:13:11 | Updated at 2024-09-30 13:20:42
5 days ago
Singapore’s population has crossed 6 million for the first time, as the percentage of non-residents increased more than that of residents, a government report showed.
The total population rose 2 per cent from a year ago to touch 6.04 million as of June, due mainly to 5 per cent growth in the number of non-residents to 1.86 million – a group that includes foreign workers’ dependents and international students, according to the report released on Tuesday.
Citizen numbers increased by 0.7 per cent to 3.64 million, while permanent residents climbed 1.2 per cent to 0.54 million.
At the same time, the report showed the city state was grappling with falling birth rates. Singapore’s resident total fertility rate dropped to a historic low of 0.97 last year, while citizen births were down 5.1 per cent on-year to 28,877. The average number of annual births in the last five years was 31,100, a number lower than the 33,000 recorded in the preceding five years.
In rival financial hub Hong Kong, meanwhile, the population stood at 7,531,800 as of last month, according to the latest census data – down by 4,300 people over the previous 12 months.
