Singapore's traveller volume hits 230 million in 2024, surpasses pre-COVID levels
The number of foreign visitors who were refused entry at Singapore’s checkpoints increased to 33,100 last year from 28,600 in 2023.
Travellers go through immigration gantries at the arrival hall of Changi Airport Terminal 3 on Feb 13, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Wallace Woon)
This audio is generated by an AI tool.
SINGAPORE: The number of travellers entering and leaving Singapore in 2024 increased by nearly 20 per cent from the previous year, surpassing 2019 pre-COVID levels, the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) said on Friday (Feb 14).
ICA cleared more than 230 million travellers in 2024, up from around 192 million passengers in 2023 and exceeding the 217.3 million recorded in 2019.
The increase was largely due to a rise in land checkpoint crossings, which accounted for more than 75 per cent of total traveller volume.
On Dec 20, 2024, land crossings reached a record high, with over 562,000 travellers passing through the Woodlands and Tuas checkpoints in a single day.
Last year, ICA introduced several new processes to strengthen border security and streamline immigration clearance. This includes passport-free clearance at major checkpoints for Singapore residents and automated clearance for all foreign visitors.
As of Jan 31, about 47 million travellers have cleared immigration without having to present their passports.
“Singapore is likely the first in the world to achieve automated clearance for all travellers,” ICA said in a press release.
“With the full roll-out of passport-less clearance at Changi Airport, the average clearance time for each traveller has been reduced by 60 per cent, from 25 seconds to 10 seconds,” it added.
At the land checkpoints, all travellers arriving and departing Singapore by car or motorcycle have had the option to use QR codes instead of passports. Immigration clearance time can be reduced by more than 30 per cent, ICA said.
While traveller volume increased, cargo volume fell by 5.8 per cent last year due to a continued decline in the number of parcels cleared since 2021. The volume of low-value goods also declined by 9.4 per cent during the same period.
MORE FOREIGNERS REFUSED ENTRY INTO SINGAPORE
ICA said it leveraged biometrics and data to improve its profiling and detection capabilities. This led to an increase in the number of foreign visitors denied entry into Singapore, rising by about 16 per cent from 28,600 in 2023 to 33,100 in 2024.
The majority of these were assessed to pose immigration risks, such as potentially overstaying or working illegally, or security risks – potentially committing crimes in Singapore.
“Most of these high-risk travellers were identified by ICA’s targeting and ground profiling efforts,” the authority said.
Using data analytics to target higher-risk consignments, ICA and other agencies foiled 44,000 contraband smuggling attempts last year, a 2.3 per cent rise. A number of cases involved large consignments of contraband cigarettes and e-vaporisers, including those smuggled in cars with modified compartments or concealed among legitimate consignments in lorries, ICA said.
However, during the same period, the number of multiple identity cases detected at checkpoints fell 46.7 per cent from 437 in 2023 to 233 last year. The agency said its use of multi-modal biometric clearance systems likely deterred illegal entry attempts. Foreign visitors who were previously detected with multiple identities would have been barred from entering Singapore, it added.
Travellers detected with forged or travel documents also fell by four to 61 cases last year.
SHARP INCREASE IN MARRIAGE-OF-CONVENIENCE OFFENCES
The number of individuals arrested for marriage-of-convenience-related offences in 2024 jumped from eight to 41 people.
“This was due to ICA’s increased enforcement efforts to investigate and disrupt MOC arrangements by syndicates,” the authority said, adding that it was alerted to some cases through tip-offs by the public.
Separately, while there was a 12.4 per cent decrease in the number of overstayers arrested in 2024 than 2023, the number of harbourers and employers of illegal overstayers arrested increased by 19 per cent.
Most harbourers either had existing relationships with the overstayers or had allowed them to stay for financial gain, ICA said.
The number of illegal immigrants arrested also rose from 45 in 2023 to 61 last year. Of the 61 illegal immigrants arrested in 2024, 25 were nabbed by the police coast guard before they had entered Singapore.
