Solution to aging population – more babies or more immigrants
March 26, 2025
Singapore has a rapidly aging population. Next year we will be a “super aged” country with over one in five aged 65 years old or above. By 2030, one in four Singaporeans will be 65 or older.
The two main factors behind an aging population are longer life expectancy and fewer births.
An aging population heading for population decline
According to the latest data from World Factbook, Singapore has the third lowest total fertility rate (TFR) in the world after Taiwan and South Korea.
Even the 2024 dragon year failed to attract couples to have babies. Last year there were 30,800 resident births – just 300 more than the previous year’s 30,500 newborns. Both 2023 and 2024 have the same historical low TFR of 0.97. We need a minimum TFR of 2.1 for the population to replace itself. By the early 2030s, without immigration, we will face population decline when deaths outnumber births.
What will happen to the growing number of HDB flats left behind by residents passing on? If birth rate is lower by the year, do we still need to build more BTOs?
As an economist from the Singapore University of Social Sciences said, “If you have zero or negative population growth, we would have to radically restructure the way we deal with major policies. For example, some things we take for granted, like new... read more