|
SINGAPORE - Singapore remains well short of the 60,000 births it needs each year to enable the population to replace itself naturally, figures showed.
A report released on the Department of Statistics website showed 39,935 babies were born in 2008, up marginally from the previous year.
It is the highest number of births since 2002, when there were 40,760 babies born, but remains well short of the number needed for population levels to remain stable without measures such as increased immigration.
Singapore needs a fertility rate of 2.1 babies per woman so that the population can replace itself naturally, the government has said.
The government has implemented several measures, including financial incentives, to encourage married Singaporeans to have more babies but these have failed to make a significant impact.
Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong last year unveiled plans worth more than S$700 million that include the extension of government-paid maternity leave.
To avert a serious population shortage, the government has set its sights on luring more immigrants to the affluent city-state.
Singapore had a population of 4.84 million in 2008, including about one million foreigners who work in the country and their families.
| 
