Population and workforce

Total population (June 2026): 6.21 million, of whom 3.68 million citizens, 0.55 million permanent residents and 1.98 million non-residents – Chapters I.V and J.IV¹
New citizens and permanent residents (2025): 25,094 and 35,352 – Chapter I.V²
Employment Pass holders (June 2026): 204,300, against 202,100 in December 2024 – Chapter J.IV³
Employment in the financial sector (2026): around 200,000, more than 80 per cent of them locals – Chapter K.IV⁴
Residents speaking English most often at home (2025): 58.1 per cent, against 48.3 per cent in 2020 and 18.8 per cent in 1990 – Chapter J.I⁵
Practising lawyers (2023): 6,512, against about 4,000 in 2002 – Chapter J.III⁶
Value added of legal services (2023): S$2.98 billion, with exports of S$1.40 billion – Chapter J.III⁷

Notes

National Population and Talent Division, Population in Brief 2026, September 2026, pp. 2 and 6, as cited in Chapter I.V. ↩
Population in Brief 2026, p. 21, as cited in Chapter I.V. ↩
Ministry of Manpower, “Foreign workforce numbers” (mom.gov.sg), as cited in Chapter J.IV. ↩
Gan Kim Yong, keynote speech at the IBF Financial Industry Fiesta, 19 May 2026 (mas.gov.sg), as cited in Chapter K.IV. ↩
Census of Population and General Household Survey series, as tabulated in Wikipedia, “Languages of Singapore”, and cited in Chapter J.I. ↩
Wikipedia, “Lawyers in Singapore”, as cited in Chapter J.III. ↩
Ministry of Law, response speech by Second Minister for Law Edwin Tong at the Committee of Supply Debate, 1 March 2024 (mlaw.gov.sg), as cited in Chapter J.III. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of October 2026.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

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I am Of Counsel with KGP Legal LLC in Singapore, where I work with a global client base of successful entrepreneurs and their families, independent asset managers, commodity trading houses and other commercial clients. I am a German and Swiss attorney-at-law, also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales and in Hong Kong. I divide my time between Zug in Switzerland, Singapore and Hong Kong. Since 2017 I have advised international clients on more than 700 crypto and digital asset projects. I also have extensive experience in cross-border litigation and arbitration in Singapore, Hong Kong and other markets in South-East Asia and Greater China.

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