Singapore adopts an open immigration policy with a strong belief in attracting “foreign talent” to drive the country's economic growth. As shown below, this has contributed to a consistent growth in the number of non-residents in Singapore since 2003, rising from 748 million to about 1,005 million in 2007, for an annual growth rate of about 7.7%.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMyJIQtGZpBI8wIP-j4ctEtY1dyaC-yWx5oYuEe6OiEF_zkFOpsgeHRvooKFro33mM_bPHcX24GNVXQx_DiUL55o9SQ4usEGBFc3q1rCbBeanxnkoxj9usLq8s2MJBAgNoePxwL2rKyMCn/s400/Singapore+Pop.JPG)
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_NI9vAsb0oHDBq0EbXcTf8P6EvS7-crDPXM0d8S07Lmcdod0O8GYsCgp7a-8pnmE7IKheVT7WoKQiwbRbL67PryFg0mz5QSc-6OI7zmSwkJNp17MD7smljdfCQRiIhGzs1rN8gttrvQKj/s400/Non-Res+Pop.JPG)
The % of the Singapore Population who are non-residents has also been on the rise, recently breaking through the 20% mark in 2007 to 21.48%.
At the current rate, the % of foreigners in Singapore looks set to rise significantly, as the country continues to import "foreign talent" - both cheap foreign labour and senior executives - to boost the population and to drive the country towards a knowledge-based economy, and target wealthy foreigners to grow its tourism, private banking and premium real estate businesses.
![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMSx5YCaCfG2efUVIhYyxJU8_C8HAHZEhWiBfaxvch-zchqSb1C0Fornq8cZ7I-aCoofjmWl2ZTv1hzT9HNzwIh6z1giWmeA5_xw2M8qrgwxfsjPEmYoqPts1MMXmoak90ssGUcDRH-sbX/s400/Non-Res+Percent.JPG)
The % of foreigners in the country could easily rise to 25%, and even 30-35% in the coming years.
All statistics are publicly available from SingStat.