(Staff post from the STRAIT TIMES NEWS on 27 February 2026.)
SINGAPORE
– Singapore plans to take in between 25,000 and 30,000 new citizens every year
over the next five years, as the government moves to offset falling birth rates
and a rapidly aging population.
Deputy
Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong, speaking on Feb. 26 during the debate on the Prime
Minister’s Office budget, said the citizen population could start shrinking by
the early 2040s without intervention, as Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR)
fell to a record low of 0.87 in 2025.
“Over
time, it will be practically impossible to reverse the trend, because we will
have fewer and fewer women who can bear children,” DPM Gan said, noting that
the TFR decline translates to just 44 children and 19 grandchildren for every
100 residents today.
He stressed the need for a “carefully managed immigration flow to augment our low birth rate,” while maintaining a stable citizen core and ensuring that new arrivals do not overwhelm public infrastructure such as housing and transport.

