More young people in Singapore are not getting hitched.
Over the past five years, Singapore has seen an increase in those aged below 40 staying single, according to data from the General Household Survey 2025 which was released on June 30.
Nearly three in four (73.4 per cent) female Singapore residents aged 25 to 29 were single in 2025, as compared to 69.0 per cent in 2020.
The proportion of singles among males in the same age range also saw an increase from 81.6 per cent to 85.9 per cent during this time period.
Notably, men aged 30 to 34 saw the sharpest rise in singlehood — from 41.9 per cent in 2020 to 47.6 per cent in 2025.
The 2025 survey, which provides comprehensive data on Singapore’s population and households across a variety of topics, also found that singlehood among men and women in Singapore varies by their education levels.
More male Singapore residents below 40 with lower educational qualifications were single as compared to their highly educated counterparts, the survey found.
18.9 per cent of men aged 40 to 49 with secondary and below qualifications were single in 2025, as compared to 13.8 per cent of those with university qualifications.
The opposite is true for women, who are more likely to be single if they have higher qualifications.
According to the 2025 survey, 16.5 per cent of female residents who were 40 to 49 years old and had university qualifications were single. On the other hand, 9.6 per cent of those with secondary and below qualifications were single.
The survey found that the trend was more prominent among women aged 30 to 39. 30 per cent of those with university qualifications were single as compared to 15.5 percent of those with secondary and below qualifications.
Singlehood, as well as marrying late, is more prevalent amongst Chinese residents in Singapore than Malays and Indians, the data showed.
In 2025, 38.0 per cent of Chinese men in Singapore aged 30 to 39 and 30.7 per cent of their female counterparts were single.
This was higher than the corresponding proportions for Malays (28.7 per cent of men and 16.5 per cent of women) and Indians (28.5 per cent of men and 23.7 per cent of women) in the same age group.
More dual-income households
Despite the rise in singlehood among young people in Singapore, married couple households with children remained the most common household living arrangement in 2025, making up 47.6 per cent of them.
This proportion, however, is a drop from 2020 — which saw 50.4 per cent of households being married couple ones with kids.
The survey also revealed that dual-income households, where both husband and wife are employed, are becoming more common.
In 2025, 56.6 per cent of couples had dual income, up from 52.5 per cent in 2020.
This increase was more prominent in Singapore resident couples aged 35 to 49 than those aged 50 to 64.
Households in which only the husband was employed also became less common in the same time period, the survey found.
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bhavya.rawat@asiaone.com
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