Total Fertility Rate of Singapore Citizens and Permanent Residents

Asst Prof Tan Kheng Boon Eugene asked the Prime Minister (a) what is the total fertility rate of Singapore citizens and Singapore permanent residents respectively over the last 10 years; and (b) whether the permanent residents' fertility rate is likely to converge with that of Singapore citizens in the near future.

Mr Teo Chee Hean (for the Prime Minister): Singapore's total fertility rate (TFR) decreased from 1.41 in 2001 to 1.20 in 2011. For international comparison, this is based on the resident TFR. The Department of Statistics (DOS) does not compute the TFR of permanent residents (PRs) separately.

To understand the fertility trends of citizens and PRs, we use the "average number of children born to ever-married females". This indicator takes into account all children ever-born to a group of ever-married females up to a specified age range 9 .

Table 1 shows the average number of children born to ever-married women in 2011, for the 30-39 and 40-49 age groups, by residency status. Over the last 10 years, this has experienced a decline similar to the TFR.

Birth trends are influenced by many factors, such as economic conditions, age profile, educational profile, labour force participation, as well as personal decisions and societal mindsets. As such, we are unable to accurately predict how the fertility rates of different population segments would develop over time.

Note(s) to Question No(s) 3:

9 It is different from the TFR which is based on the number of children born to females (single or married) aged 15-49 in a particular year.