Parliament: Annual number of new PRs and citizens stable for last 5 years, says Indranee

Numbers of people granted PR have remained stable at about 31,700 people over the past five years. Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah said that Singapore’s resident total fertility rate (TFR) has remained low below the replacement rate of 2.1, a situation that happens for most developed economies.  TFR, the level at which a population replaces itself, was 1.14 last year, the same as the year before that. 

Ms Indranee reiterated that there is no population target or any particular population size that Singapore is aiming for. She added that Singapore’s popular size is affected by many factors like birth rates, life expectancy, as well as global developments affecting immigration and employment. 

She also highlighted those likely to be selectively offered citizenship and PR status as applicants who are committed to making Singapore their home, and those who can integrate and contribute to Singapore. Another important factor is also their shared family ties with Singaporeans as well as the years of residency in Singapore. New citizens either share family ties with Singaporeans or have studied, worked or lived here for some time are drawn from the pool of qualified PRs who eventually make a serious commitment to take on citizenship.