The Big Story: No country has cracked the fertility crisis. Can Singapore?

Published on 9 Jun 2026
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Singapore’s fertility rate has fallen to a historic low, and Prime Minister Lawrence Wong has signalled that there are no plans to introduce a new population target or revise the figures set out in past population planning discussions.

Instead, the focus is on maintaining stability and avoiding population decline in an increasingly uncertain demographic landscape.

As birth rates continue to fall around the world and immigration remains carefully managed, what does a sustainable population look like for Singapore? Can policy measures meaningfully reverse the trend, or is the country entering a new era where success is measured by more than just population growth?

On The Big Story, Hongbin Jeong speaks with Dr Kalpana Vignehsa, Senior Research Fellow in the Governance and Economy department at the Institute of Policy Studies, to find out more.

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