NSF enlistment averages fall to 17,300 in SAF for 2021–2025, down from 19,100
Defence minister Chan Chun Sing said five-year annual-average NSF enlistments fell across the SAF, SPF and SCDF in 2021–2025 compared with 2016–2020, with over 95% completing the two-year term.
- The annual-average intake of full-time National Servicemen in the Singapore Armed Forces fell from 19,100 to 17,300.
- Similar declines were recorded in the Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force.
- The lower averages align with earlier demographic projections that enlistment numbers would taper due to ageing and declining fertility trends.
Annual-average enlistment of full-time National Servicemen (NSF) in the Singapore Armed Forces fell to 17,300 in 2021–2025, down from 19,100 in 2016–2020, according to figures released in Parliament on 12 February 2026.
The decline was disclosed by Coordinating Minister for Public Services and Minister for Defence Chan Chun Sing in a written reply to Workers’ Party MP Kenneth Tiong Boon Kiat.
Tiong had asked for a year-by-year breakdown of enlistments over the past 10 years across the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force, as well as the number serving in their second year in each year.
Chan said enlistment numbers vary from year to year, and it is “more meaningful” to compare annual averages over longer time periods.
For the Singapore Armed Forces, the annual-average intake was 19,100 between 2016 and 2020, compared with 17,300 between 2021 and 2025, with figures rounded to the nearest 100.
For the Singapore Police Force, the annual-average intake declined from 2,400 in 2016–2020 to 2,200 in 2021–2025.
For the Singapore Civil Defence Force, the corresponding figures fell from 1,900 to 1,800 over the same periods.
Chan added that the percentage of enlistees who progress to complete their two-year term has “consistently exceeded 95%”.
He said the small numbers who do not complete the full term are mostly due to medical reasons.
The reply did not provide a separate year-by-year breakdown, nor specific figures on how many full-time National Servicemen were in their second year in each individual year.
The latest averages come against the backdrop of earlier demographic concerns raised more than a decade ago.
In November 2012, then defence minister Ng Eng Hen said SAF enlistments had peaked at about 21,000 in 2011 but were expected to taper towards about 15,000 annually, similar to levels in the 1990s, due to ageing and declining fertility trends.
He also said at the time that long-term projections indicated the armed forces would still be able to mobilise about 300,000 personnel through regulars, full-time national servicemen and operationally ready NSmen, supported by force transformation and technology.
While Chan did not outline new projections in his latest reply, the lower 2021–2025 averages across all three services indicate a continued easing of intake numbers compared with the previous five-year period.
