Singapore has four official languages: English, Malay, Mandarin and Tamil.
Malay is the national language of the country, although English is the official language used in the educational system and by the government. The colloquial English-based creole used in everyday life is often referred to as Singlish, spoken by all races of Singapore.
The government of Singapore promotes the use of Mandarin. The use of other Chinese varieties, like Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka, has been declining over the last two decades, although they are still being used especially by the older generations of the Chinese population.
About 60% of Indian Singaporeans are Tamils although the percentage of those who speak Tamil at home has been declining, with around 37% of Singaporean Indians speaking Tamil at home according to the 2010 census. Other spoken Indian languages are Punjabi, Malayalam, Hindi and Bengali, but none of them alone is spoken by more than 10% of the Indian Singaporeans. As with Chinese Singaporeans, a large proportion of Indian Singaporeans speak English at home.
Around 5,000 to 10,000 Peranakans, the early Chinese population of the region, still use the Hokkien-influenced Malay dialect called Baba Malay.
{| class="wikitable"
|+Languages of Singapore most frequently spoken at home
! Year
! English
! Mandarin<br />Chinese
! Malay
! Non-Mandarin Chinese varieties
! Tamil
! Others
|-
| 1980
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| 1990
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| 2000
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| 2010
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| 2020
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Religion
The main religions of Singapore among residents are Chinese folk religion, Buddhism, Taoism, Confucianism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Sikhism, with a significant number who profess no religion.
Singapore, being a secular state, has freedom of religion, although the government restricts some religions such as Jehovah's Witnesses, due to their opposition to conscription. The majority of Malays are Muslim, while the plurality of Chinese practise Buddhism and syncretic Chinese folk traditions. Christianity is growing in the country. Taoism was overtaken as the second-most prominent religion in the 2000 census among the Chinese as more have increasingly described themselves as Buddhists rather than Taoist.
Marriage and divorce
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+Marriages and divorces
|-
!
! 2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 || 2014 || 2015 || 2016 || 2017
|-
|Number of marriages (excluding previously married)
|align=center | 24,596 || 26,081 || 24,363 || 27,258 || 27,936 || 26,254 || 28,407
|-
|Number of divorces (not including divorces under Muslim law)
|align=center | 5,170 || 5,416 || 5,433 || 5,696 || 5,306 || 5,471 || 5,172 || 5,450 || 5,505 || 5,570
|-
| colspan="8" | Median age of first marriage (years)
|-
|...Grooms
|align=center | 29.8 || 29.8 || 30.0 || 30.1 || 30.1 || 30.1 || 30.2
|--
|...Brides
|align=center | 27.3 || 27.5 || 27.7 || 28.0 || 28.0 || 28.1 || 28.2
|--
| colspan="8" | General marriage rate
|--
|...Males (per 1,000 unmarried resident males aged 15 to 49)
|align=center | 43.5 || 43.4 || 39.3 || 43.5 || 43.8 || 40.5 || 44.4
|--
|...Females (per 1,000 unmarried resident females aged 15 to 49)
|align=center | 39.6 || 38.9 || 35.3 || 39.2 || 39.4 || 36.9 || 40.8
|--
|colspan="8" | Median age at divorce (years)
|--
|...Grooms
|align=center | 39.9 || 40.5 || 41.0 || 41.3 || 41.6 || 42.4 || 42.6
|--
|...Brides
|align=center | 36.3 || 36.9 || 37.4 || 37.7 || 38.0 || 38.2 || 38.4
|--
|colspan="8" | General divorce rate
|--
|...Males (per 1,000 married resident males aged 20 years and over)
|align=center | 7.5 || 7.5 || 7.5 || 7.6 || 7.1 || 7.3 || 7.0
|--
|...Females (per 1,000 married resident females aged 20 years and over)
|align=center | 7.3 || 7.1 || 7.2 || 7.2 || 6.7 || 6.9 || 6.5
|--
|Crude marriage rate (per 1,000 resident population)
|align=center | || || || 6.7 || || ||
|--
|Crude rate of marital dissolution (per 1,000 resident population)
|align=center | || || || 2.0 || || ||
|}
Literacy and education
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Literacy rate population aged 15 years and above
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! Year
! Total
! Male
! Female
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| 1960
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| 1970
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| 1980
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| 1990
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| 2000
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| 2010
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{| class="wikitable"
|+ Highest qualification attained of resident non-student population aged 25 years and over
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Employment (thousands)
|-
! rowspan="2" | Year || colspan="11" | Employment change || rowspan="2" | Employment in December 2012
|-
! 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007 || 2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012
|-
| Total || −22.9 || −12.9 || 71.4 || 113.3 || 176.0 || 234.9 || 221.6 || 37.6 || 115.9 || 122.6 || 129.1 || 3,357.6
|-
| Total (excluding foreign domestic workers) || −23.6 || −11.7 || 66.4 || 105.5 || 168.0 || 223.5 || 213.4 || 32.9 || 110.6 || 117.7 || 125.8 || 3,148.0
|-
| Locals || 19.4 || 14.9 || 49.9 || 63.5 || 90.9 || 90.4 || 64.7 || 41.8 || 56.2 || 37.9 || 58.7 || 2,089.3
|-
| Foreigners || −42.3 || −27.9 || 21.5 || 49.8 || 85.1 || 144.5 || 156.9 || −4.2 || 59.7 || 84.8 || 70.4 || 1,268.3
|-
| Foreigners (excluding foreign domestic workers) || −43.0 || −26.6 || 16.5 || 42.0 || 77.1 || 133.1 || 148.7 || −8.9 || 54.4 || 79.8 || 67.1 || 1,058.7
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|+Unemployment rate (%) for persons aged 15 years and over
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+ Household income from work <small>(SGD)</small>
|-
! Year || 1990 || 1995 || 1997 || 1998 || 1999 || 2000 || 2010 || 2011 || 2017
|-
| Average income || 3,076 || 4,107 || 4,745 || 4,822 || 4,691 || 4,943 || 8,726 || 9,618 ||11,589
|-
| Median income || 2,296 || 3,135 || 3,617 || 3,692 || 3,500 || 3,607 || 5,600 || 6,307 || 8,846
|}
{| class="wikitable"
|-
|+ Households income from work by ethnic group per head <small>(SGD)</small>
! 1990
! 2000
! 2010
|-
! Year || 2000 || 2001 || 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007 || 2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012
!2013
!2014
!2015
!2016
!2017
!2018
!2019
|-
| No working person || 8.6 || 6.9 || 9 || 9.7 || 9.8 || 10 || 9 || 8.6 || 8.6 || 9.6 || 10.5 || 9.3 || 9.2
|9.4
|10.4
|9.7
|10.8
|11.8
|12.1
|13.2
|-
| Retiree households || 2.6 || 2.3 || 3 || 3.6 || 3.7 || 3.5 || 4.1 || 4.1 || 3.8 || 4 || 4.1 || 4.5 || 4.7
|4.9
|5.7
|5.3
|6.1
|6.9
|7.1
|7.9
|-
| Below $1,000 || 3.3 || 3.9 || 4 || 4.6 || 4.3 || 4.3 || 4.4 || 4.3 || 3.8 || 4.1 || 3.5 || 3.2 || 3
|2.7
|2.3
|2
|2
|1.9
|1.9
|1.8
|-
| $1,000–$1,999 || 12.2 || 11.1 || 11.5 || 11.1 || 11.4 || 10.9 || 10.5 || 9.8 || 8.3 || 7.8 || 7 || 6.5 || 6.2
|6.2
|5.9
|5.7
|5.5
|5.4
|5.3
|5.1
|-
| $2,000–$2,999 || 13.2 || 12.7 || 12.5 || 11.9 || 12.2 || 11.4 || 11.2 || 10 || 8.6 || 8.6 || 8.2 || 7.1 || 6.3
|6.3
|5.8
|5.8
|5.4
|5.1
|5.2
|4.9
|-
| $3,000–$3,999 || 12.6 || 11.5 || 11.6 || 11.7 || 11.4 || 10.7 || 10.8 || 9.7 || 8.5 || 8.9 || 8.3 || 7.6 || 6.6
|6.7
|6
|5.5
|5.3
|5.5
|5.2
|5.2
|-
| $4,000–$4,999 || 10.2 || 9.8 || 9.5 || 9.4 || 9.6 || 9.1 || 8.9 || 8.8 || 8.4 || 8.1 || 7.9 || 7.2 || 7
|6.3
|5.9
|5.9
|5.4
|5.2
|5.3
|5.4
|-
| $5,000–$5,999 || 8.3 || 8.3 || 8.1 || 7.9 || 7.9 || 7.9 || 8.1 || 7.7 || 7.3 || 7.5 || 7.4 || 7 || 6.8
|6.4
|6.1
|5.7
|5.9
|5.4
|5.4
|4.9
|-
| $6,000–$6,999 || 6.7 || 6.7 || 6.4 || 6.9 || 6.3 || 6.4 || 6.9 || 6.8 || 6.4 || 6.9 || 6.7 || 6.5 || 6.1
|5.8
|5.8
|5.8
|5.8
|5.2
|5.2
|4.9
|-
| $7,000–$7,999 || 5.1 || 5.3 || 5.1 || 4.9 || 5.3 || 5.4 || 5.3 || 5.7 || 5.9 || 5.7 || 5.7 || 6 || 5.8
|5.6
|5.4
|5.3
|5.1
|5.2
|4.6
|4.6
|-
| $8,000–$8,999 || 4 || 4.3 || 4.3 || 4 || 4.1 || 4.5 || 4.4 || 4.7 || 5.1 || 4.7 || 5.1 || 5.4 || 5.4
|5.1
|5.1
|5.3
|4.9
|5
|4.7
|4.6
|-
| $9,000–$9,999 || 3.1 || 3.5 || 3.3 || 3.4 || 3.3 || 3.4 || 3.5 || 3.8 || 4.1 || 4.1 || 4.2 || 4.7 || 4.7
|4.6
|4.7
|4.8
|4.6
|4.6
|4.4
|4.1
|-
| $10,000–$10,999 || 2.4 || 2.9 || 2.8 || 2.7 || 2.7 || 2.8 || 2.9 || 3.3 || 3.8 || 3.7 || 3.8 || 4.1 || 4.1
|4.4
|4.7
|4.3
|4.6
|4.3
|4.3
|4.2
|-
| $11,000–$11,999 || 1.8 || 2.1 || 2.1 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 2.1 || 2.3 || 2.6 || 3.2 || 2.9 || 3 || 3.3 || 3.8
|3.7
|3.6
|3.8
|3.8
|3.6
|3.8
|3.8
|-
| $12,000–$12,999 || 1.5 || 1.8 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 1.5 || 1.8 || 1.9 || 1.9 || 2.4 || 2.4 || 2.6 || 2.7 || 3.3
|3.4
|3.3
|3.6
|3.5
|3.2
|3.2
|3.4
|-
| $13,000–$13,999 || 1.1 || 1.4 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.3 || 1.4 || 1.5 || 1.9 || 2 || 2.2 || 2.1 || 2.4 || 2.6
|2.8
|3
|3
|3
|3
|3.2
|3
|-
| $14,000–$14,999 || 0.9 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 1.1 || 1 || 1.1 || 1.2 || 1.4 || 1.7 || 1.8 || 1.8 || 2.1 || 2.2
|2.6
|2.6
|2.7
|2.6
|2.7
|2.6
|2.8
|-
| $15,000–$17,499 || 1.6 || 2 || 1.8 || 1.9 || 1.8 || 2.1 || 2 || 2.6 || 3.2 || 3.2 || 3.5 || 4.2 || 4.6
|4.7
|4.9
|5.2
|5.5
|5.6
|5.8
|5.4
|-
|$17,500–$19,999
|1
|1.4
|1.2
|1.1
|1.2
|1.3
|1.4
|1.7
|2.2
|2.1
|2.2
|2.8
|3.1
|3.3
|3.5
|3.8
|4
|4.1
|4.2
|4.1
|-
|$20,000 and over
|2.4
|3.2
|2.8
|3
|2.9
|3.4
|3.8
|4.7
|6.4
|5.7
|6.6
|8
|9.2
|9.9
|11
|12.1
|12.4
|13.3
|13.5
|14.4
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|+Resident households by monthly household income from work excluding employer CPF contributions (%)
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%;"
|+Average monthly household income from work including employer CPF contributions among resident employed households<small>(SGD)</small>
|-
! rowspan="2" | Decile || colspan="15" | Average monthly household income <small>(SGD)</small> || colspan="14" | Nominal annual change (%)
|-
! 2000 || 2001 || 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007 || 2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 || 2014 || 2001 || 2002 || 2003 || 2004 || 2005 || 2006 || 2007 || 2008 || 2009 || 2010 || 2011 || 2012 || 2013 || 2014
|-
| Total || 5,947 || 6,417 || 6,229 || 6,276 || 6,285 || 6,593 || 6,792 || 7,431 || 8,414 || 8,195 || 8,726 || 9,618 || 10,348 || 10,469 || 11,143 || 7.9 || −2.9 || 0.8 || 0.1 || 4.9 || 3.0 || 9.4 || 13.2 || −2.6 || 6.5 || 10.2 || 7.6 || 1.2 || 6.4
|-
| 1st – 10th || 1,382 || 1,331 || 1,266 || 1,223 || 1,232 || 1,257 || 1,258 || 1,321 || 1,399 || 1,361 || 1,497 || 1,581 || 1,644 || 1,711 || 1,775 || −3.7 || −4.9 || −3.4 || 0.7 || 2.0 || 0.1 || 5.0 || 5.9 || −2.7 || 10.0 || 5.6 || 4.0 || 4.1 || 3.7
|-
| 11th – 20th || 2,241 || 2,275 || 2,180 || 2,164 || 2,199 || 2,257 || 2,305 || 2,418 || 2,700 || 2,696 || 2,940 || 3,135 || 3,302 || 3,372 || 3,641 || 1.5 || −4.2 || −0.7 || 1.6 || 2.6 || 2.1 || 4.9 || 11.7 || −0.1 || 9.1 || 6.6 || 5.3 || 2.1 || 8.0
|-
| 21st – 30th || 2,986 || 3,043 || 2,944 || 2,984 || 2,988 || 3,116 || 3,182 || 3,379 || 3,831 || 3,787 || 4,158 || 4,421 || 4,782 || 4,993 || 5,226 || 1.9 || −3.3 || 1.4 || 0.1 || 4.3 || 2.1 || 6.2 || 13.4 || −1.1 || 9.8 || 6.3 || 8.2 || 4.4 || 4.7
|-
| 31st – 40th || 3,683 || 3,867 || 3,722 || 3,746 || 3,786 || 4,020 || 4,038 || 4,335 || 4,906 || 4,978 || 5,418 || 5,794 || 6,183 || 6,376 || 6,863 || 5.0 || −3.7 || 0.6 || 1.1 || 6.2 || 0.4 || 7.4 || 13.2 || 1.5 || 8.8 || 6.9 || 6.7 || 3.1 || 7.6
|-
| 41st – 50th || 4,505 || 4,680 || 4,572 || 4,637 || 4,648 || 4,859 || 4,971 || 5,358 || 6,055 || 5,980 || 6,603 || 7,032 || 7,608 || 7,993 || 8,303 || 3.9 || −2.3 || 1.4 || 0.2 || 4.5 || 2.3 || 7.8 || 13.0 || −1.2 || 10.4 || 6.5 || 8.2 || 5.1 || 3.9
|-
| 51st – 60th || 5,304 || 5,677 || 5,522 || 5,638 || 5,504 || 5,865 || 6,027 || 6,561 || 7,492 || 7,319 || 7,840 || 8,436 || 9,133 || 9,469 || 10,108 || 7.0 || −2.7 || 2.1 || −2.4 || 6.6 || 2.8 || 8.9 || 14.2 || −2.3 || 7.1 || 7.6 || 8.3 || 3.7 || 6.7
|-
| 61st – 70th || 6,354 || 6,751 || 6,664 || 6,725 || 6,633 || 7,136 || 7,180 || 7,928 || 8,957 || 8,798 || 9,310 || 10,101 || 10,894 || 11,293 || 11,861 || 6.2 || −1.3 || 0.9 || −1.4 || 7.6 || 0.6 || 10.4 || 13.0 || −1.8 || 5.8 || 8.5 || 7.9 || 3.7 || 5.0
|-
| 71st – 80th || 7,608 || 8,322 || 8,132 || 8,229 || 8,012 || 8,641 || 8,809 || 9,479 || 10,820 || 10,694 || 11,105 || 12,306 || 13,186 || 13,807 || 14,496 || 9.4 || −2.3 || 1.2 || −2.6 || 7.9 || 1.9 || 7.6 || 14.1 || −1.2 || 3.8 || 10.8 || 7.2 || 4.7 || 5.0
|-
| 81st – 90th || 9,461 || 10,755 || 10,294 || 10,271 || 10,350 || 10,701 || 11,048 || 12,386 || 14,013 || 13,423 || 13,943 || 15,509 || 16,366 || 16,984 || 18,017 || 13.7 || −4.3 || −0.2 || 0.8 || 3.4 || 3.2 || 12.1 || 13.1 || −4.2 || 3.9 || 11.2 || 5.5 || 3.8 || 6.1
|-
| 91st – 100th || 15,946 || 17,467 || 16,998 || 17,146 || 17,493 || 18,076 || 19,100 || 21,146 || 23,968 || 22,909 || 24,442 || 27,867 || 30,379 || 28,688 || 31,142 || 9.5 || −2.7 || 0.9 || 2.0 || 3.3 || 5.7 || 10.7 || 13.3 || −4.4 || 6.7 || 14.0 || 9.0 || −5.6 || 8.6
|}
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; font-size: 90%;"
|+ Average monthly household income from work excluding employer CPF contributions among resident employed households<small>(SGD)</small>
{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; width:800px;"
|+ Gini coefficient among resident employed households