Fewer foreigners are being hired in Singapore

Growth in Singapore's foreign hires slowed to 3% in the year ending June 2014, down from 5.9% the previous year - owing to steps taken to slow the growth of foreign workforce to a more sustainable pace.

These statistics have been published by the National Population and Talent Division (NPTD), which also found the country's population has been growing at its slowest rate in a decade (1.3%), to stand at 5.47 million - including permanent residents and foreigners.

The population growth rate, however, is in line with the NPTD White Paper on population published last year, which estimated Singapore's population to range between 5.8 million to 6 million in 2020.

If the growth rate carries on as is, Singapore's population should cross the six-million mark by 2022.

Singapore's non-resident population growth also slowed to 2.9%, down from 4.0% in the previous year.

Pegged at 1.6 million, it comprises mainly work permit holders (46%) and dependants of citizens, permanent residents and work pass holders (15%).

Citizen population in the city-state grew at the same pace as last year to 3.34 million, including citizen births and immigration. It continues to age though, with 12.4% aged 65 and above compared to 11.7% last year.

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