(Bloomberg) -- The number of babies born in Singapore last year fell to the lowest in at least five decades, as the city-state continues to battle with a declining birth rate, the Straits Times reported on Sunday.
A total of 33,541 babies were born in 2023, declining 5.8% from the 35,605 babies born the previous year, ST said citing a report by the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority. Past years’ reports showed birth and death statistics dating back to 1971, when 47,088 babies were born, according to the local newspaper.
The city-state’s government has eased rules on egg freezing and doubled government-paid paternity to curb a decline in its fertility rate, which fell to a historic low of 0.97 in 2023.
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