Budget 2026: Singapore’s total fertility rate at new low of 0.87 in 2025; new workgroup to relook family support strategies

[SINGAPORE] The Republic’s total fertility rate (TFR) plunged to a record low of 0.87 in 2025, down from 0.97 the year before, and a significant drop from 1.24 just a decade ago.

The figure was disclosed by Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong during the Committee of Supply debate for the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Thursday (Feb 26).

Resident births fell across all ethnic groups, with Chinese births recording a proportionately steeper decline of 15 per cent from 2024, partly reflecting the typical pullback after a Dragon Year.

DPM Gan noted that demographics had once worked in Singapore’s favour: In the early years of independence, a young and growing citizen population helped build the economy and the nation. That advantage has since reversed.

“Birth rates are falling at an unprecedented pace, and our population is ageing rapidly,” he said. “The overall trend is also of grave concern. Marriage rates have come down. Those who are married have fewer children or no children.”

In 2025, one in five citizens was aged 65 or over, compared to one in eight in 2015. “Our population is ageing faster than ever,” pointed out DPM Gan. “This is an existential challenge.”

While many developed and developing countries face similar pressures, Singapore’s small size makes it “exceptionally sensitive” to demographic shifts, he added. “Over time, it will be practically impossible to reverse the trend, because we will have fewer and fewer women who can bear children.”

Low birth rates and an ageing population will profoundly reshape Singapore’s society and economy in the years ahead.

Even with immigration, citizen population growth has slowed over the past decade – from an average of 0.9 per cent a year between 2015 and 2020, to 0.8 per cent between 2020 and 2025; for 2025 alone, it dipped to just 0.7 per cent.

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Without new measures, the citizen population will begin to shrink by the early 2040s, DPM Gan warned.

New strategies for marriage and parenthood

He described the decline in fertility as a “multi-faceted challenge” that reflects broader generational shifts in life priorities and mindsets, shaped by workplace norms, employer practices, availability of family and community support, and social attitudes toward raising children.

“We need to address these issues holistically and not simply blame it on any particular single factor,” he said.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah, who oversees the National Population and Talent Division, echoed the point, noting that the challenge is not “simply economic”.

Some countries have spent heavily on support schemes, others offer generous welfare systems – yet birth rates in these jurisdictions remain stubbornly low. “These measures can help at the margins, but they have not fundamentally reversed the trend,” she said.

Besides financial costs, other concerns such as the stress of raising children and difficulties in managing work and demands of the family are the some of the most common reasons cited by married respondents when considering whether to have children.

To this end, the government will form a new workgroup, chaired by Indranee, comprising relevant agencies to examine the issue holistically and engage the public, businesses and the people sector.

It will focus on four areas: enhancing state support for marriage and parenthood; cultivating more positive societal mindsets toward family formation; working with employers to embed family-friendly workplace cultures and practices; and engaging the whole of society in the effort.

Measures under consideration include enhancements to financial support such as the Baby Bonus cash gift and education subsidies, as well as housing policies to help couples stay near family.

More details are expected at the Ministry of National Development’s Committee of Supply debate. The government will also review financial and non-financial support for couples on fertility journeys, and work with employers to better support employees undergoing fertility treatments, Indranee said.

The Marriage and Parenthood Survey will be expanded this year to track how attitudes have evolved. The findings will inform the workgroup’s recommendations and shape the next round of policy enhancements.

Controlled immigration

Singapore would still need a “carefully managed immigration flow” to augment its low birth rate, even as it redoubles efforts to raise births, DPM Gan said.

Singapore granted around 25,000 citizenships last year and expects to take in between 25,000 and 30,000 new citizens a year over the next five years.

As for permanent residents (PRs), around 35,000 individuals were granted PR status in 2025; the figure is expected to rise to around 40,000 annually, though the overall PR population has remained stable at around 540,000 in recent years. Even with these inflows, citizen population growth is expected to slow further – from 0.7 per cent in 2025 to around 0.5 per cent thereafter.

While Singaporeans broadly accept the economic case for immigration, many harbour personal concerns and anxieties about competition and the social fabric – concerns the government takes seriously, he added.

The government will maintain the broad ethnic balance of the citizen population, manage the pace of immigration to ensure public infrastructure keeps pace with population growth, and remain selective about who is granted citizenship, DPM Gan said.