Singapore population rises 1.6% to 6.21 million, driven by construction workers for key projects like T5

[SINGAPORE] The population of Singapore has risen to 6.21 million as at June 2026, up from 6.11 million a year earlier.

The total population grew by 97,300, with non-residents adding 70,300, citizens 24,200 and permanent residents 2,800.

The overall increase of 1.6 per cent was driven in particular by more construction workers for key infrastructure projects such as Changi Airport Terminal 5 and the ramp-up of housing supply, said the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) on Friday (Sep 25).

These workers, considered part of the non-resident population, are also involved in the expansion of Marina Bay Sands and building of transport infrastructure, it said.

Meanwhile, the citizen population increased by 0.7 per cent to 3.68 million in June 2026, from 3.66 million in June 2025, said NPTD in its annual Population in Brief 2026 report.

Singapore’s PR population remained relatively stable at 0.55 million.

In 2025, 25,094 people were granted citizenship and another 35,352 were granted permanent residency.

The average number of citizenships and permanent residencies granted per year from 2021 to 2025 rose compared with the five years before, NPTD said.

In that time, Singapore granted an average of 22,400 citizenships and 34,600 permanent residencies, compared with an average of 20,600 citizenships and 31,200 permanent residencies between 2016 and 2020.

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Non-residents, which make up the remainder of the population, increased by 3.7 per cent to 1.98 million in June 2026 from 1.91 million in June 2025. The increase was driven primarily by more work permit holders and migrant domestic workers, NPTD said.

It added that foreign employment growth in Singapore was higher over the period of June 2025 to June 2026, compared with June 2024 to June 2025, primarily because of increases in the number of work permit holders.

The report showed that Singapore’s non-resident population, which includes these two groups, is diverse, and that its size and composition vary over time to support the country’s “evolving economic and social needs”.

Today, the foreign workforce, not including migrant domestic workers, makes up about two-thirds of the non-resident population.

The remaining one-third comprises mainly migrant domestic workers, dependants, and students, it added.

The country’s annualised population growth rate between 2021 and 2026 was higher than the preceding five-year period between 2016 and 2021.

“This was in part influenced by Covid-19, which contributed to a lower total population base in 2021 and subsequent higher growth registered on average over 2021 to 2026,” read the report, which also released figures on the rate at which Singapore’s population is ageing.

Singapore is now a super-aged society, with more than 21 per cent of the population aged 65 and older.

Marriage and parenthood

There were 21,671 citizen marriages in 2025, 5.6 per cent lower than the 22,955 citizen marriages in 2024, NPTD said in the report.

The average number of citizen marriages per year from 2023 to 2025 was 23,000, lower than between 2016 and 2019, when the average was 23,500 a year.

Singaporeans are also getting married later. The report showed that the median age at first marriage for grooms was 30.8 and 29.1 for brides in 2025, up from 30.1 for grooms and 27.9 for brides in 2015.

It added that transnational marriages made up 37 per cent of marriages in 2025 – a figure which has been largely stable since 2015, barring dips during the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.

Inter-ethnic marriages made up 19 per cent of citizen marriages in 2025. This proportion has also remained largely stable since 2015, NPTD said.

Meanwhile, the proportion of single Singaporeans has been rising over time, it added. Between 2015 and 2025, the proportion of singles rose across most male and female age groups.

NPTD noted that this trend is particularly pronounced for those aged 25 to 29 and 30 to 34. THE STRAITS TIMES