S'pore sees no baby boom in Year of the Dragon despite slight rise in births in 2024
Historically, there has been a baby boom each dragon year, which falls every 12 years in the zodiac cycle.
SINGAPORE – The much hoped for baby boom did not materialise in the Year of the Dragon, but there was a slight rise in births in 2024.
In total, 33,703 babies were born in 2024, up by 0.5 per cent from the 33,541 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.
Meanwhile, the number of deaths fell from 26,888 in 2023 to 26,442 in 2024, a drop of 1.7 per cent.
This is the first time the number of deaths fell from the previous year in almost a decade, a check by The Straits Times found.
With Singapore's rapidly ageing society, the number of deaths has been steadily rising over the decades.
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The Covid-19 pandemic is likely to have also contributed to the higher number of deaths between 2020 and 2022.
The two leading causes of death in 2024 were cancer and heart and hypertensive diseases, which accounted for over half of all deaths here.
In February, Ms Indranee Rajah, Minister in the Prime Minister's Office, said that the dragon year effect has been diminishing over the years, reflecting the generational shifts in attitudes and priorities among young couples.
Ms Rajah, whose ministry oversees population issues, said the preliminary total fertility rate (TFR), which refers 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 2023, when Singapore's TFR fell below 1 for the first time. In February, the total number of babies born in 2024 was not made public yet.
In the Chinese zodiac calendar, the Dragon Year has traditionally been considered an auspicious time 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 falls every 12 years in the zodiac cycle.
For example, there were 36,178 babies born in 2011 but 38,641 in 2012, which was Year of the Dragon – an increase of 6.8 per cent.
The increase in births in the dragon year before that was even higher.
In the 2000 dragon year, a total of 44,765 babies were born - an 8.3 per cent jump from the 41,327 babies born in 1999.
Over the past two decades, the Government has introduced a slew of measures and benefits to boost the country's birth rate.
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