Singapore is one of the wealthiest countries in the world, with a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita of more than $57,000. Life expectancy at birth is 82.3 and infant mortality is 2.7 per 1000 live births. The population is ageing and by 2030, 20% will be over 65. However it is estimated that about 85% of those over 65 are healthy and reasonably active. Singapore has a universal health care system.
There are a variety of health screening and healthy lifestyle programmes for both adults and children. Only 14% of the population smokes. The Temasek Cares programme supports a wide range of interventions for disadvantaged people.
Singapore in recent years has the lowest infant mortality rate in the world and among the highest life expectancies from birth, according to the World Health Organization.
A new measure of expected human capital calculated for 195 countries from 1990 to 2016 and defined for each birth cohort as the expected years lived from age 20 to 64 years and adjusted for educational attainment, learning or education quality, and functional health status was published by the Lancet in September 2018. Singapore had the thirteenth-highest level of expected human capital with 24 health, education, and learning-adjusted expected years lived between age 20 and 64 years.
Health Indicators
Some common indicators used to indicate health include total fertility rate, infant mortality rate, life expectancy, crude birth and death rate. As of 2017, Singapore has a Total Fertility Rate of 1.16 children born per woman, an Infant Mortality rate of 2.2 deaths per 1000 live births, Crude Birth Rate of 8.9 births per 1000 people and a Death Rate of 3 deaths per 1000 inhabitants. The average lifetime expectancy at birth slightly increased from 83 to 83.1 between the period 2016 and 2017. In comparison, the average lifetime expectancy for China grew from 76.3 in 2016 to 76.4 in 2017. Other parameters are outlined below:
In general, all indices showed improvement except for the Total fertility rate, which dropped to 1.16 in 2017, making it the lowest figure since 1.15 in 2010 and the second lowest ever recorded in the city-state. This general slow-down can be explained by the ‘demographic-gift’, term defined by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) according to which increases in income, education and health and the changing role of women in the workforce were strongly connected to levels of low fertility rate.
Age Structure
The median age of the resident population rose from 40.0 years to 40.5 years between June 2016 and June 2017. Residents aged 65 years and over made up 13% of the resident population in Singapore in 2017, compared to 12.4% in 2016.
Dependency Ratio
The Age dependency ratio in Singapore was reported at 37.98% in 2016, according to the World Bank collection of development indicators, and is expected to reach 36.3% by 2030 and 60.6% by 2050. The retired population will therefore make up a growing share of the population in the upcoming years. Factors contributing to this growth include rising life expectancy and falling birth rates.
Medical Issues in Singapore
Malnourishment
Malnourishment is "a condition caused by inadequate, excessive or imbalance intake of nutrients". Common indicators used to measure malnourishment are body mass index and vitamin deficiencies.
Children
From 1977 to 2000, children malnutrition for those aged five and younger had moments of improvement and backtrack. The prevalence of children being underweight, having stunted growth or being weak has improved. More specifically, in 2000 it was 8.9% less common for a child to be underweight compared to rates in the 1970s. Conversely, between the years of 1970 and 1977, the prevalence of a children being overweight increased. Similarly, in 2016 22.4% of school-aged children and adolescents aged 5 to 19 years were overweight.