Over the past 20 years, the overall fertility rate of resident women in Singapore has declined, with the sharpest drop seen among women aged 20 to 29. However, there has been a slight increase in the fertility rate for women aged 40 and above.
Lianhe Zaobao reported on the 20th that, according to the Singapore Department of Statistics' provisional "Age-Specific Fertility Rate" (ASFR) data updated this February, in 2025, among women aged 40 to 44, there will be 9.6 babies born per 1,000 women—an increase from 6.2 babies in 2005. Age-specific fertility rate refers to the number of babies born for every 1,000 women in a particular age group.
As for women aged 45 to 49, in 2025, there will be 0.5 babies born per 1,000 women, a slight increase from 0.2 babies in 2005.
On the other hand, the ASFR among younger women has visibly declined over the past 20 years.
Among women aged 25 to 29, there will be 38.3 babies born per 1,000 women in 2025, which stands in stark contrast to 80.7 babies per 1,000 women in 2005.
Scholars point out that the trend of later marriage and childbearing in recent decades has led to a slight increase in the ASFR of older women, while the fertility rates for women in their 20s and 30s have declined.
Dr. Kalpana, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said that married couples today may not necessarily want children. For those who do wish to have children, they consider factors such as career stability and whether they can share parenting responsibilities before making the decision to have kids. This also means they may take a longer time to decide if they are truly ready for parenthood.