S’pore’s population hits 5.18 million, PR numbers decline

Singapore’s population grew by 2.1 per cent to reach 5.18 million as of end June this year, even as the number of permanent residents fell.

The increase this year is slightly higher than that in 2010, when the total population registered a growth of 1.8 per cent.

This year's expansion was due to an increase in citizens and non-residents, with the former growing by 0.8 per cent to reach 3.26 million in 2011, according to the Population Trends 2011 report released by the Singapore Department of Statistics on Wednesday.

While the number non-residents grew by 6.9 per cent to reach 1.39 million in 2011, this was down from the highs of 15 per cent in 2007 and 19 per cent in 2008. Non-residents refer to foreigners who live, study or work here without permanent resident status.

In contrast, the number of permanent residents declined by 1.7 per cent to 532,000. This was after growing 1.5 per cent in 2010 and at least 6 per cent each year between 2005 and 2009.

The report also found that the median age of the resident population rose from 37.4 years in 2010 to 38.0 years in 2011, reflecting the ageing population here. The proportion of residents aged 45 and above also increased.

As such, the ratio of working-age residents to elderly residents dropped. There were 7.9 residents aged 15-64 years for each resident aged 65 years and over in 2011, a decline from 8.2 in 2010.

Comparing changes between 2000 and 2010, the report showed that the proportion of singles among residents increased by 2 percentage points to 32 per cent in 2010, while the proportion of divorced or separated residents also increased by 0.8 percentage point to reach 3.3 per cent. The proportion of married people declined to 59 per cent of the resident population.

The education profile of residents was found to have improved over the last decade, with some 49 per cent of the resident non-student population aged 15 and above having at least post-secondary qualifications in 2010, up from 33 per cent in 2000. The share of university graduates also increased significantly from 12 per cent in 2000 to 23 per cent in 2010.