Have expat demographics changed over the years?

Here are some highlights from our recent EXPAT LIVING READER SURVEY analysis based on three of our surveys: 2008, 2010 and 2018. Bear in mind that these are statistics from the expat respondents only – a full analysis will be covered in a future article. From expat neighbourhoods to salary packages and shopping habits, as you would expect, the demographics have changed – in some cases, significantly.

Nationality Trend

• There’s been a decrease in the population of Australian and American expats, and an increase in Indian expats:
  • Australian: from 28% in 2010 to 19% currently
  • American: from 14% in 2010 to 9% currently
  • Indian: from 3% in 2010 to 6% currently

Living in Singapore

• More expat families are enrolling their kids in local schools:
  • Up from 8% in 2010 to 22% currently
• More expats are planning to become PRs and make Singapore their main country of residence:
  • Increase from 4% in 2010 to 10% currently

Employment

• There are more expats working in the IT field now and fewer in the Banking & Finance and Engineering & Construction fields:
  • IT: up from 4% in 2010 to 8% currently
  • Banking & Finance: down from 25% in 2010 to 19% currently
  • Engineering & Construction: down from 13% in 2010 to 5% currently
• There has been a significant drop in expat packages:
  • 56% are currently on local packages, up from 32% in 2008
  • 18% are currently on expat packages, down from 33% in 2008

Income

• Surprisingly, income has remained unchanged over the last 10 years, despite economic and employment package changes.

Property

• There’s been a big rise in personal rentals and a drop in company rentals:
  • Personal rentals: up from 48% in 2008 to 71% currently
  • Company rentals: down from 40% in 2008 to 11% currently
• More expats are now staying in HDBs:
  • Up from 3% in 2008 to 10% currently
• The majority of expats still live in homes that are 1,000-3,000 square feet in size, though the number living in smaller homes has increased (influenced probably by newer property developments that are smaller):
  • 20% now live in homes up to 1000 square feet, up from 13% in 2010

Shopping & lifestyle habits

• The rise in expats shopping online for groceries has been huge:
  • Up from 5% in 2008 to 80% currently
• More expats are going to the gym and spending on fitness and personal trainers:
  • Increase from 25% in 2010 to 41% currently
• There’s been a major increase in weekly home entertainment/TV and going to the cinema, theatre or live events, reflecting a greater demand for entertainment:
  • 87% now watch TV or other home entertainment once or more a week, up from 28% in 2008
  • 85% now go to the cinema or a live event once or more a month, up from 38% in 2008
• Online shopping for clothing, beauty products, kids’ products and entertainment has grown by about 30-40% since 2010.
• Expats are eating out even more frequently now:
  • 90% eat out at least once a week and 56% order home delivery at least once a month

District trends

• There’s been a major drop in the percentage of expats living in Ardmore, Bukit Timah, Holland Road and Tanglin areas:
  • Down from 28% in 2008 to 19% now
• Also, fewer are living in the East Coast and Central/Orchard areas.
• The expat population is growing in these areas:
  • Serangoon Garden, Hougang, Punggol (doubled since 2008)
  • Telok Blangah, HarbourFront (tripled since 2008)
  • Pasir Panjang, Hong Leong Garden, Clementi New Town
  • Hillview, Dairy Farm, Bukit Panjang, Choa Chu Kang

For more helpful tips, head to our living in Singapore section. Read on for more great features:

The expat’s guide on where to live in Singapore

Could Singapore run out of water?

Want to volunteer in Singapore?

Rebecca Bisset

Heading up Expat Living, Rebecca's the oldest but not necessarily the wisest of the crew! Her original career was in photography and video. A bit of a nomad before Singapore, she loves looking at properties, fashion and home décor.