Disability Facts & Figures

Existing data from government agencies estimated that approximately 3% of the resident population are unable to or had some difficulty performing at least one basic activity.¹

Persons with physical disabilities would constitute half of the disability group. The remainder comprises those with sensory (hearing or vision loss), intellectual disabilities and autism spectrum disorder.²

Almost 3 in 10 persons with disabilities who are in the working age are employed and two-thirds in this age group are outside of the labour force.³

In 2020, KKH Women’s and Children’s Hospital and the National University Hospital diagnosed about 5,000 new cases of developmental delay in pre-schoolers, and this number is likely to go up every year. ⁴

In 2022, there are 27,000 students with mild special education needs in mainstream schools, while 7,000 students are in SPED schools.⁵

Singaporeans are living longer but those aged 60 and above will spend 3 to 8 years of their lives with some form of disabilities.⁶