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SINGAPORE – About 31,700 people have been granted Singapore permanent resident status each year for the past five years, and their numbers have remained stable, Prime Minister Indranee Rajah said.
And there have been around 22,100 new citizens each year on average over the same period, including around 1,600 foreign-born children annually to Singaporean parents, he added.
Responding to questions from Mr. Liang Eng Hwa (Bukit Panjang) and Ms. Poh Li San (Sembawang GRC) in Parliament on Wednesday (October 14), Ms. Indranee said that like most developed economies , Singapore’s total fertility rate (TFR) remains below the replacement rate of 2.1 – the level at which a population replaces itself.
The TFR of residents was 1.14 last year, unchanged from the previous year.
Ms Indranee, who oversees the National Population and Talent Division, reiterated that Singapore does not have a population target or seek to achieve a particular population size.
She said: “The size of Singapore’s population is affected by many factors, including birth rates, life expectancy, as well as global developments affecting immigration and employment.”
In 2018, the government said that the size of Singapore’s total population is likely to be significantly less than 6.9 million by 2030, it added. “This perspective is still valid today,” he said.
Ms Indranee said citizenship and public relations status are selectively offered to applicants who are committed to making Singapore their home and who can integrate and contribute to Singapore.
“The new citizens share family ties with Singaporeans or have studied, worked or lived here for some time. They are drawn from the pool of qualified PRs who eventually make a serious commitment to acquiring citizenship,” he added.
Ms Indranee also said that planning for Singapore’s infrastructure is a long-term process that is guided by many factors besides demographics, including land use needs for economic growth and socio-economic and technological trends.
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