Singapore's foreign population dips 10.7% on COVID restrictions

Government wants to open doors while managing locals' anxieties about immigrants

Office workers are seen in a largely empty central business district of Singapore on Sept. 27, as much of the city returns to working from home to combat COVID-19. © Reuters

DYLAN LOH, Nikkei staff writer

September 28, 2021 21:26 JST

SINGAPORE -- Singapore's population of foreign nationals was down 10.7% in June compared with a year earlier, no thanks to travel restrictions and a weak economy brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Over the year, the nonresident population fell from 1.64 million to 1.47 million, largely due to a reduction in foreign employment in Singapore, according to the government's annual "Population in Brief" report released on Tuesday.