Population hits 4.84m

THE sense of a growing squeeze in shopping malls, MRT trains and hawker centres has been borne out by figures released by the Government on Friday.

Singapore's population grew by a record 5.5 per cent last year, the highest annual spike since Census figures were collected in 1871.

This means that as of June, there are 4.84 million people living in this country, up from 4.59 million last year.

Of these, the number of foreigners - fuelled by a fast-trotting economy last year - expanded the most rapidly, by a whopping 19 per cent, swelling their numbers to 1.2 million.

In contrast, the number of citizens grew by 1 per cent, while the number of permanent residents climbed 6.5 per cent. Together, they add up to 3.64 million residents.

The figures were released by the National Population Secretariat (NPS), under the Prime Minister's Office, which is tasked with overseeing Singapore's population policies.

The nation's total fertility rate (TFR) is still low but more births were registered.

The resident TFR rose slightly from 1.28 in 2006 to 1.29 in 2007. There were 18,032 resident births registered in the first six months this year, compared with 17,325 births a year ago. The increase is primarily due to more first-order births.

With the recent enhancement of the Marriage and Parenthood (M&P) Package, the Government hopes to support more Singaporeans in getting married and having children.

Singapore also welcomed more new permanent residents and new citizens. There were more foreigners becoming PRs and citizens, with 34,800 granted PRs and 9,600 granted citizenship in the first six months, compared to 28,500 and 7,300 in the same period in 2007.

More Singaporeans are also going overseas for work and study.

As of June, there were about 153,500 overseas Singaporeans (OS) compared with 147,500 a year ago.

The countries with a high concentration of overseas Singaporeans are Australia, the UK, the US and China.

Mr Roy Quek, Director of the NPS, who also heads the OSU, noted that 'having more Singaporeans go overseas is not a problem per se, so long as they stay engaged and connected with Singapore'.

'The fact that many Overseas Singaporeans have done well in other countries attests to the success of the Singaporean system in producing top students, professionals and entrepreneurs who can succeed outside of Singapore,' he added.

'We should celebrate their successes and help them stay connected to home, so that they remain Singaporeans in their hearts and minds even when they are physically away from the rest of us'.