SINGAPORE: More young people in their 20s and 30s have stayed single over the past five years.
About three in four female residents (73.4 per cent) here aged 25 to 29 were single in 2025, up from 69 per cent in 2020.
For their male counterparts in the same age bracket, the proportion of singles rose from 81.6 per cent in 2020 to 85.9 per cent in 2025.
This is according to the latest numbers from the Department of Statistics (DOS) in the General Household Survey 2025 published on June 30.
For male residents, the sharpest increase in singlehood was among those aged 30 to 34, from 41.9 per cent in 2020 to 47.6 per cent in 2025.
Singlehood and marrying later continued to be more prevalent among Chinese residents than among Malays and Indians, the survey found.
In 2025, 38 per cent of Chinese resident males and 30.7 per cent of Chinese resident females aged 30 to 39 years were single, higher than the proportions for Malays and Indians in the same age group.
Overall, married couple-based households with children remained the most common household living arrangement in Singapore. They made up 47.6 per cent of all resident households, a slight dip from 50.4 per cent in 2020.
The General Household Survey, published by DOS between the population censuses, provides a snapshot of Singapore’s population and household trends. The last survey was released in 2015.
Population censuses are carried out every 10 years, with the most recent held in 2020.
The last household survey was published in 2015, and the last population population census was in 2020.
The survey also pointed to a continued shift towards dual-income families. The proportion of dual-career couples, where both husband and wife are employed, rose from 52.5 per cent in 2020 to 56.6 per cent in 2025.
At the same time, households where only the husband was employed became less common.
While the increase in dual-career couples was recorded across all age groups, the growth was more pronounced among couples aged 35 to 49 and those aged 50 to 64.
Singapore residents continued to be more highly educated. Between 2020 and 2025, the proportion of residents aged 25 years and over with post-secondary or higher qualifications grew to 64.8 per cent from 58.3 per cent.
The proportion of married couples where the husband and wife had the same highest qualification increased from 46.6 per cent in 2020 to 52 per cent in 2025.
The proportion of married couples where the wife had lower qualifications than the husband declined from 30.8 per cent in 2020 to 26.7 per cent in 2025, while the share of couples where the wife was more highly qualified than the husband dipped slightly, from 22.5 per cent to 21.4 per cent.
The proportion of residents with post-secondary or higher qualifications rose across the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities. Malays recorded a substantial increase in the proportion with diploma and professional qualifications.
English continued to be the most frequently spoken language at home. In 2025, 58.1 per cent of residents aged five and above reported speaking English most frequently at home, up from 48.3 per cent in 2020.
Even so, the majority of English-speaking residents, or 80.5 per cent, also reported using a vernacular language at home.
Literacy rates remained high, with 98.6 per cent of residents aged 15 and above able to read in at least one language. Among literate residents below the age of 45, nine in 10 could read two or more languages. - The Straits Times/ANN
