Singapore’s birth rate has reached a record low in 2022 with only 35,605 babies born throughout the year. The country also experienced highest number of annual deaths since 1960.
Official figures released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) indicated a 7.9 per cent decline in births. The number dropped from 38,672 in 2021 to 35,605 in 2022. In contrast, there were 26,891 deaths in 2022, reflecting a 10.7 per cent increase compared to 24,292 deaths recorded in 2021 according to the Registration of Births and Deaths report.
Chinese-language daily Lianhe Zaobao reported this as the highest number of annual deaths since 1960.
The report further revealed a trend of women delaying childbirth with the median age of first-time mothers rising to 31.9 years in 2022 from 30.6 years in 2018. However, there was a minimal change in the median ages of mothers giving birth to their second or subsequent children during the same period. Additionally, the percentage of first-time mothers with university degrees increased to 63.6 per cent in 2022, compared to 58 per cent in 2017.
Singapore’s declining birth rates and ageing population are long-standing concerns leading the government to implement various measures to mitigate their impact. In February, plans were announced to provide support to individuals with marriage and parenthood aspirations following the historically low total fertility rate (TFR) of 1.05 recorded last year. These measures include granting greater priority to first-time families with children and younger married couples in their Build-To-Order flat applications, including an additional ballot. Cash gifts, grants, and an extension of government-paid paternity leave to four weeks are among other initiatives.
When asked about the declining TFR, Tan Ern Ser, a sociologist from the National University of Singapore, pointed out that factors contributing to this trend may include children being seen as less essential for retirement planning and the rising cost of raising children in an increasingly volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous world.
According to World Bank Data 2021, Niger, Somalia, Congo, Mali, Chad, Angola are the top six countries with highest fertility rates and South Korea, Puerto Rico, HongKong, Malta, Singapore, Macau are the top six countries with lowest fertility rates.
Other frequently cited factors include the prevalence of dual-income households, driven partly by the desire to maintain a middle-class lifestyle, delayed marriages among women prioritising their careers, and the lack of work-life balance in jobs that prioritise deliverables, according to Dr. Tan quoted by the Straits Times. He also noted that the COVID-19 pandemic may have played a role by impacting employment, creating income insecurity, and reinforcing the perception of an increasingly volatile world.
According to World Bank Data 2021, Niger, Somalia, Congo, Mali, Chad, Angola are the top six countries with highest fertility rates and South Korea, Puerto Rico, HongKong, Malta, Singapore, Macau are the top six countries with lowest fertility rates.
Deaths resulting from unnatural causes, including accidents, suicides, and other external factors, constituted 3.3 per cent of the total cases. Data released by the non-profit suicide prevention center, Samaritans of Singapore, revealed that there were 476 suicides in 2022, marking the highest number since 2000.
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