Parliamentary Reply by Minister Indranee Rajah on the Number of Overseas Residents

FOURTEENTH PARLIAMENT OF SINGAPORE

WRITTEN REPLY 

TUESDAY, 7 MAY 2024

Mr Leong Mun Wai:

To ask the Prime Minister (in each year since 2020 (a) how many (i) Singapore Citizens and (ii) Permanent Residents (PR) who have a registered foreign address or been overseas for at least 12 months continuously were not included as part of citizen and PR population in the Population in Brief publication by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD); (b) whether NPTD will consider publishing this figure in future editions of Population in Brief; and (c) if not, why.

Ms Indranee Rajah (for the Prime Minister):

In line with international recommendations, we base our population estimates on the “de jure” population concept, or place of “usual residence”. Our methodology for reporting Singapore Citizen (SC) and Permanent Resident (PR) data therefore excludes those who have only a registered foreign address, or SCs and PRs who have been overseas continuously for 12 months or more. This is explained in the Population in Brief publication.

This group of SCs and PRs includes overseas students, professionals working abroad, and those who are residing overseas for family reasons. Over the past decade, these SCs and PRs have made up between 2-3% and 8-9% of the overall SC and PR populations respectively. This is with the exception of the COVID period when travel restrictions resulted in more SCs and PRs staying abroad for 12 months or more.

The National Population and Talent Division (NPTD) will continue to regularly review the annual Population in Brief publication, taking into account international best practices.