Singapore’s population shrunk by 4.1% year over year, the second consecutive year it has fallen, primarily due to an exodus of foreign workers, students and residents amid tight Covid controls in the city-state.
The total non-resident population dropped 10.7% year over year, the Singapore Department of Statistics said in its annual report released Tuesday on the city-state’s population trends.
Non-resident population includes foreigners working, studying or living in Singapore who aren’t permanent residents, the government said. It doesn’t include tourists and short-term visitors.
Singapore’s population is now listed at 5.45 million as of the end of June, a decline from 5.69 million a year ago and 5.7 million as of end-June 2019, the last full reporting year before the Covid-19 pandemic hit.
The resident population, which includes citizens and foreigners granted permanent residence, also dropped 1.4% in the last year, a fall the statistical agency attributed primarily to Covid-related travel curbs that resulted in more of them living outside the country for 12 months or more.
Photo: Albert Chua / The Edge Singapore
