S'pore population hits 5m
By Melissa Pang
IF YOU feel that Singapore seems to be more crowded these days, it's because the population here has hit almost five million.
The Population Trends 2009 report released by the Department of Statistics on Monday, revealed that the Republic's total population as at end June was 4,987,600.
About 75 per cent are Singapore citizens and Singapore Permanent Residents (PRs), otherwise known as Singapore residents, and the remaining 25 per cent are non-residents.
The latest figures indicate a 3.1 per cent growth over the previous year, with the resident population registering a 2.5 per cent jump.
Singapore citizens contributed to this growth with a 1.1 per cent increase to 3.2 million in 2009. This group stood at 3.16 million last year.
Singapore PRs grew to 0.53 million in June, up from 0.48 million in 2008.
The report also showed that the 1.25 million non-resident population grew at a slower rate of 4.8 per cent, compared to growths of more than 10 per cent in the last two years.
The number of resident households has also gone up at the same rate - by 1.7 per cent to an estimated 1,093,100 in 2008.
The average household size was 3.5 persons in 2008, lower than the average household size of 3.7 persons in 2000 and 4.2 persons in 1990.
The proportion of households with two to three persons rose from 28 per cent in 1990 to 40 per cent in 2008, while the proportion of persons living alone has also increased from 5.2 per cent in 1990 to 10 per cent in 2008.
