Written responses provided by Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing detailed fatality statistics across national service branches between 2016 and 2025 following inquiries from Workers' Party MPs. The figures reflect a service cohort of roughly 45,000 individuals serving annually across armed, police, and civil defence forces. The data also highlighted that the annual suicide rate among servicemen remained lower than the comparable national male rate recorded in 2024. Official statements will continue to be issued whenever a serviceman dies on duty or in camp.
Key points
Leading causes of mortality among full-time national servicemen closely align with genera…: Leading causes of mortality among full-time national servicemen closely align with general demographic trends for young Singaporean males.
Defence and home affairs ministries investigate every serviceman fatality to develop meas…: Defence and home affairs ministries investigate every serviceman fatality to develop measures that prevent future occurrences.
Official public statements remain standard practice whenever a serviceman dies while on d…: Official public statements remain standard practice whenever a serviceman dies while on duty or within camp premises.
Sources checked by our analysis pipeline: 1
Consistent with the national trend for males aged 10 to 30, the leading causes of death were suicide, followed by road traffic accidents.
SINGAPORE: An average of 10 to 11 full-time national servicemen (NSFs) died during service annually from 2016 to 2025, Defence Minister Chan Chun Sing said on Tuesday (Nov 3).
These were due to various causes, including suicides, road traffic accidents and natural causes such as illnesses, said Mr Chan in a written parliamentary answer.
Consistent with the national trend for males aged 10 to 30, the leading causes of death were suicide, followed by road traffic accidents.
Mr Chan was responding to a question filed by MP Fadli Fawzi (WP-Aljunied) about the number of NSFs in the last decade who have died of unnatural causes in the Singapore Armed Forces, Singapore Police Force and Singapore Civil Defence Force. He also asked for the main causes of these deaths and the steps taken to reduce their incidence.
Every year, about 45,000 male Singaporeans and permanent residents serve their full-time national service in the three uniformed services.
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