SINGAPORE: The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) in Singapore saw a slight dip from 1.24 in 2015 to 1.20 last year, said Senior Minister of State in the Prime Minister's Office Josephine Teo on Friday (Feb 10). She is in charge of population matters.
In an update on Facebook, Mrs Teo said this is partly the result of a demographic transition. “We have a relatively large cohort of young Singaporeans (our #Millennials) that now enter into their peak child-bearing ages (25-39), but many have not yet started having children,” she wrote.
Last year, there were 33,161 births of Singapore babies, down from 33,725 in 2015 which saw births at a 13-year high due to an SG50 baby boom. “Though slightly lower than in SG50 when Singapore celebrated our Golden Jubilee, the number was still above the average of 32,000 in the past decade,” said Mrs Teo.
There were 23,873 marriages with at least one Singaporean citizen in 2016, the second highest annual figure since 1998, she said, quoting figures from preliminary data from the Department of Statistics.
She also said Singapore has “reason to celebrate”. “While the impression is that Singaporeans are marrying later, in fact, the median age of first marriage has been stable since 2011, at 28 years for Singaporean brides and 30 years for Singaporean grooms,” she stated.
The Minister of State encouraged millennial Singaporeans to pursue their aspirations for a family, even as they work towards other meaningful goals.
“On our part, the Government will continue to focus on getting our whole society ready for millennial families. We need bold collective actions in the areas of housing, pre-school services, workplace and community support,” she said.
- CNA/ly
Singapore’s TFR dips slightly to 1.20 last year
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