Overview

The population challenge is a complex and multi-faceted challenge which requires planning and coordination at the highest level. To do this, the Government has formed a ministerial-level committee, the National Population Committee (NPC) chaired by DPM and Minister for Home Affairs Mr Wong Kan Seng. The terms of reference of the NPC are as follow:

  1. To review the government’s population and demographic objectives and chart new directions for a holistic approach to population challenges;
  2. To balance the needs for economic vitality with the needs for a socially cohesive society made up of a core of citizens;
  3. To steer and guide the holistic development of policies in marriage and parenthood, immigration, engagement of overseas Singaporeans and ageing;
  4. To assign responsibilities and set targets and parameters for relevant agencies, and coordinate their efforts for greater efficacy of our population policies; and
  5. institutionalise mechanisms for the study and monitoring of population outcomes and trends on a continued basis.

The NPC is supported by the National Population Secretariat (NPS) in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO). The NPS is responsible for setting policy objectives and coordinating the efforts of the various government agencies involved in the continuum of population-related issues. The terms of reference are as follow:

  1. To support the NPC to strategise, steer and guide the holistic development of policies in marriage and parenthood, immigration, engagement of overseas Singaporeans and ageing;
  2. To initiate, drive and conduct fundamental reviews of our population related strategies and policies, especially in areas which do not fall within the natural ambit of Ministries, in particular on promoting naturalisation and engaging overseas Singaporeans;
  3. To provide guidance and coordination to relevant Ministries in the implementation of policies and programmes, including enhancing existing infrastructural framework to facilitate Ministries' work;
  4. To monitor and provide policy analyses of key population and demographic statistics and trends, especially those pertaining to key population parameters such as citizen ratio in total population; and
  5. To undertake any other additional strategic and/or operational projects to add value to Singapore's overall management and planning of population resources and networks.

To know more about Singapore’s population challenge, government’s strategies to tackle them and how Singaporeans could help, please click here.

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Our Mission, Vision and Corporate Philosophy

NPS's Vision and Mission statements together describe our desired outcomes and overall purpose, while the Corporate Philosophy statement represents the core priorities in our culture as we carry out our Mission.

VISION
Singapore 2.1: A sustainable, connected and integrated population

The Vision encapsulates the social demographic aspirations of NPS for Singapore's population.

"Singapore 2.1" embodies our aim to achieve a viable population for Singapore. We seek a sustainable population, comprising Singaporeans of the past, current and future generations, regardless of whether they are here by birth or by choice. We also seek a connected and integrated population, so that Singaporeans will always identify with Singapore and their fellow citizens wherever they may be or where they came from.

MISSION
Augmenting our population, rooting our people

The Mission statement succinctly describes how NPS intends to achieve our Vision: through augmenting the population by increasing the number and enhancing the profile of Singaporeans, and rooting our people by strengthening their connection with Singapore and also with their fellow Singaporeans.

In order to do this, NPS drives and coordinates reviews of policies and programmes across the three key population strategies of (a) supporting marriage and parenthood, (b) engaging Overseas Singaporeans, and (c) facilitating the naturalisation of suitable foreigners and their integration with Singapore society.

CORPORATE PHILOSOPHY
Getting it done:
For people
By people
With people

At NPS, we believe in getting things done with people at our core.

Our work, as stated in our Vision and Mission, is centred on ensuring a viable Singapore for Singaporeans.

We value our people, who are essential in helping us achieve success. We leverage on the diverse capabilities of our talent to improve the effectiveness of our organisation. We also provide our people with opportunities to learn and enhance their skills, so that they can achieve their best in NPS. Everyone has a role to play and the ability to make a difference.

In carrying out our Mission, we recognise that the continuum of population issues involves many agencies in the Government and extends beyond the Government to the private and people realms. NPS adopts an objective and whole-of-government collaborative approach to drive the three population strategies. At the same time, we also seek the participation of the private and people sectors through effective consultation and collaboration.

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Organisation Chart

Organisation Chart
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Units in NPS

The NPC has identified three key strategies to deal with our population challenge: (a) raising local fertility through encouraging marriage and parenthood, (b) engaging Overseas Singaporeans, and (c) encouraging naturalisation of suitable foreigners. All three strategies are equally important for us to tackle the population challenge. All three have to be implemented and driven with the same intensity and level of conviction.

Three units have hence been set up in the NPS to support NPC in its work. These three units see to the work of the three key strategies:

  • Citizenship and Population Unit (CPU) – The role of CPU is to coordinate and drive the efforts of all relevant agencies dealing with immigration and naturalisation issues.

    The CPU coordinates and drives the outreach and naturalisation efforts by partner agencies that deal with immigration and naturalisation issues. It also works with partner agencies to review policies and programmes relating to immigration and naturalisation.

  • Overseas Singaporean Unit (OSU) – The role of OSU is to plan and coordinate multi-agency programmes and initiatives to engage the Overseas Singaporean community.

    To know more about OSU, please click here.

  • Strategies and Projects Unit (SPU) – The role of SPU is to monitor Singapore’s population trends, identify potential challenges, as well as strategise and coordinate overall efforts on population issues across agencies.

    SPU also coordinates efforts that cut across various units in the NPS including public communications relating to the NPC, organisation of the NPS and budget for the various population programmes.
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