Singapore: Singapore recorded fewer than 30,000 births in 2025 for the first time since gaining independence, underscoring mounting demographic pressures from persistently low fertility and a rapidly ageing population, according to official data cited by The Straits Times.

According to Anadolu Agency, a total of 29,864 babies were born in 2025, down 11.4% from 33,703 the previous year, according to the Report on Registration of Births and Deaths 2025 released by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority.

The figure marks the lowest annual birth total in the city-state's post-independence history. In 1965, the year Singapore became independent, 55,725 babies were born.

The latest data comes after Deputy Prime Minister Gan Kim Yong said in February that the resident total fertility rate had fallen to a record low of 0.87 in 2025, warning that Singapore's citizen population could begin shrinking in the early 2040s without further policy interventions.

The government has described declining births and rising deaths as an existential challenge and has pledged continued support for marriage and parenthood while maintaining a carefully managed immigration policy to supplement the workforce.

The report also showed that 87% of babies born in 2025 had at least one Singaporean parent. Officials noted that first-time mothers continue to have children at older ages, reflecting broader trends of delayed marriage and parenthood.

Despite the record-low birth figures, some indicators improved. Births to teenage mothers fell 43% year-on-year to 140, while registrations of babies without the father's name declined 22% to 258, according to the report.