History of Census-Taking in Singapore

Census History

Singapore’s first census was taken in April 1871 as part of the Straits Settlement Census. Regular censuses were then undertaken at ten-year intervals up to 1931. The Second World War delayed the next censuses till 1947 and 1957. In 1970, Singapore conducted its first post-Independence population census. Four other censuses were subsequently conducted in 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010. The Census 2020 is the sixth census carried out since Independence and the fifteenth in the series of census-taking in Singapore. Watch the video on 150 Years of Census-Taking to find out more on Singapore's Census history.

Census taking in Singapore is in line with the recommendation of the United Nations (UN) for a national census to be taken at least once every 10 years.

The 1970, 1980 & 1990 Censuses

In the early censuses up to 1990, census information was collected via field work. The conduct of the Census was a laborious activity. Census officers had to make home visits to each and every household in Singapore to perform face-to-face interviews. Responses to the census questions were then recorded on paper forms and sent back to the census office for processing and compilation.

Register-based Censuses in 2000 and 2010

In 2000, Singapore conducted its first register-based census. Basic demographic data were obtained from administrative records. This was supplemented with a 20 per cent sample enumeration which collected detailed data required for in-depth studies. Steering away from the reliance on field work, a tri-modal data collection approach, comprising of Internet enumeration, Computer Assisted Telephone Interviewing (CATI) and field work, was introduced for the sample survey.

The register-based approach was continued in Census 2010. With the introduction of Ultra-Mobile Personal Computers for the fieldwork collection, majority of the data was captured electronically at the point of collection.