Written reply to PQs on Census of Population 2020 Report

Questions

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry what are the reasons for collapsing the demographics of the Indian resident population into "Tamil", "Malayalee", "Sikh", "Hindi" and "other Indians" for Census of Population 2020, unlike Census of Population 2010 where the same Indian resident population was sub-categorised in greater detail into "Tamil", "Malayalee", "Hindi", "Sikh", "Punjabi", "Hindustani", "Urdu", "Gujarati", "Sindhi", "Sinhalese" and "other Indians".

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry what considerations determine the inclusion of new demographic sub-categories and the exclusion of previously reported sub-categories under "Other Ethnic Groups" in Census of Population 2020.

Mr Pritam Singh: To ask the Minister for Trade and Industry (a) whether he can explain the rise from 175,661 individuals to 244,529 individuals recorded in the sub-category of "Other Chinese" under Chinese resident population in the Census of Population 2010; and (b) whether this sub-category can be further expanded for greater clarity and analysis.

Written Answer by Minister for Trade and Industry Mr Gan Kim Yong

1. In line with its usual practice, the Department of Statistics (DOS) had reviewed the categories of data published in the Census of Population 2020 Statistical Release to ensure that they remain relevant and meaningful, taking into account factors such as the relative size and share of the categories while balancing against the need to preserve the continuity and comparability of the published categories over time.

2. In the case of the detailed breakdown of ethnic groups of the Indian resident population, the number of categories in the Census 2020 Statistical Release has been consolidated to reflect the top four detailed ethnic groups by size. For the Indian ethnic groups that are combined under “Others”, each group was significantly smaller and comprised fewer than 10,000 Indian residents and contributed to less than three per cent of the Indian resident population in 2020.

3. In the case of "Other Ethnic Groups", the detailed ethnic groups have been updated to reflect the largest ethnic groups outside of the Chinese, Malay and Indian ethnic groups in 2020. The ethnic groups combined under “Others” constituted relatively smaller shares.

4. Based on the Census of Population 2020, there were a total of 3,006,769 Chinese residents in Singapore, an increase from 2,793,980 in 2010. In line with the overall increase, all ten sub-categories of Chinese residents by detailed ethnic groups presented in the Census of Population 2020 Statistical Release, including the residual “Other Chinese” category, saw an increase in their respective population sizes. The “Other Chinese” category includes Chinese residents of detailed ethnic groups that were generally small in size, such as Kwongsai, Chawan, Shantung, Luichew and Wenchow.