S’pore sees no baby boom in Year of the Dragon despite slight rise in births in 2024
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Ms Joanna Wee, a 35-year-old physiotherapist, her husband Gary Chua, a 35-year-old facilities management director, and their children. Ms Wee is holding her son Matthias, who is now seven months old. Her daughter Cara is two. PHOTO: JOANNA WEE
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- Singapore births rose slightly to 33,703 in 2024, a 0.5% increase, but not the expected Dragon Year boom.
- Deaths decreased by 1.7% to 26,442 in 2024, with cancer and heart disease as leading causes.
- The total fertility rate (TFR) remained at 0.97 in 2024, with experts noting a diminishing "Dragon Year effect" on births.
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SINGAPORE – The much-hoped-for baby boom did not materialise in the 2024 Dragon Year, but there was a slight rise in births registered.
In total, 33,703 babies were born in 2024, up 0.5 per cent from the 33,541 babies born in 2023, according to the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2024.
The report was released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority on July 18.
Singapore’s birth rate is among the world’s lowest, and the Government has been trying for years to get Singaporeans to have more babies.
For example, the Large Families scheme, where families with three or more young children will get more financial benefits and support,
Meanwhile, the number of deaths fell from 26,888 in 2023 to 26,442 in 2024 – a drop of 1.7 per cent.
With Singapore’s rapidly ageing society, the number of deaths has been steadily rising over the past two decades.
The two leading causes of death in 2024 were cancer, and heart and hypertensive diseases, which accounted for more than half of all deaths here.
Professor Alex Cook from the NUS Saw Swee Hock School of Public Health said the smaller number of people dying from heart, lung and infectious diseases largely contributed to fewer overall deaths in 2024, compared with in the year before.
In February, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office Indranee Rajah said that the “Dragon Year effect” has been diminishing over the years, reflecting generational shifts in attitudes and priorities among young couples. At that time, the total number of babies born in 2024 had not been made public yet.
Ms Rajah, whose ministry oversees population issues, said the preliminary total fertility rate (TFR) – referring to the average number of babies each woman would have during her reproductive years – remained at 0.97 in 2024.
This is the same figure as that in 2023, when Singapore’s TFR fell below 1 for the first time.
In the Chinese zodiac calendar, the Dragon Year has traditionally been considered an auspicious year to have children, as the dragon is associated with good fortune, success and leadership, among other desirable traits.
Historically, there has been a baby boom each Dragon Year, which occurs every 12 years in the zodiac cycle.
For example, 39,654 babies were born in 2011, and 42,663 in Dragon Year 2012 – an increase of 7.6 per cent.
The increase in births in the last Dragon Year before 2012 was even higher.
In 2000, 46,997 babies were born – an 8.4 per cent jump from the 43,336 babies born in 1999.
Dr Tan Poh Lin, a senior research fellow at the Institute of Policy Studies, said the 0.5 per cent increase in the number of babies born in 2024 was so small that it could be viewed as “natural statistical variation” instead of an uptick in births.
A natural statistical variation refers to normal fluctuations that occur in data over time, and is not caused by any special or particular reason.
She added: “What we see is that there is no clear Dragon Year effect in 2024 for the first time, which could indicate a waning enthusiasm for having a Dragon baby.”
Uncertain macroeconomic conditions could also hold some couples back from having children, she said.
Dr Tan pointed out that despite a post-pandemic surge in the number of marriages in 2022 and 2023, the number of babies born in 2024 is still far lower than numbers seen in pre-pandemic years.
This is particularly worrying as it suggests that more couples are not just delaying having babies, but deciding not to have any at all, she said.
Singaporeans are also having children later in life, the report shows.
The median age of first-time mothers was 31.9 years in 2024, up from 31.6 years a year earlier.
Meanwhile, about two-thirds of first-time mothers in 2024 were university graduates.
Physiotherapist Joanna Wee, 35, said the Dragon Year was not a consideration at all when it came to having children, and she had preferred to avoid it if possible. On family size, she said having two children is “ideal” for her family.
Her second child, Matthias, was born in December 2024, arriving three weeks earlier than his expected due date in January 2025. Her daughter, Cara, is two.
Ms Wee said: “I wanted to avoid the Dragon Year. The competition to get a place in school, for childcare and other resources – all that has been harder for the Dragon Year babies in the past.”
She and her husband had hoped for a two-year age gap between their children so that the elder child would be older and more independent, making raising two children more manageable.
She also wanted to have her second child before turning 35, as the risk of pregnancy complications increases with age.
