Singapore records 245 million travellers in 2025 - ICA

SINGAPORE - Singapore recorded a total of 245 million travellers passing through its checkpoints in 2025, up 6.3 per cent from 230 million visitors registered the previous year, according to the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA).

ICA said the highest number of entries recorded in a single day was on Dec 19, 2025, when close to 589,000 travellers entered Singapore through its land checkpoints, The Straits Times (ST) reported.

The agency noted a 9.5 per cent increase in vehicles passing the land checkpoints recorded in 2025, with cars and motorcycles accounting for about 94 per cent of the total volume.

"Following the full implementation of QR code clearance at the land checkpoints in January 2025 and the progressive roll-out of tokenless clearance at the air and sea checkpoints, clearance times have been reduced.

"This has also enabled ICA to better manage the increasing volume of travellers, especially at the land checkpoints,” ICA said on Monday.

In the meantime, ICA also highlighted that the number of foreign visitors denied entries in 2025 rose by 38.3 per cent to around 45,700 individuals compared to 33,100 visitor in the previous year.

The agency has conducted pre-arrival risk assessment by leveraging advance information and data analytics to identify high-risk travellers, vehicles and cargo for enhanced checks upon arrival at the checkpoints.

"Through this upstream targeting and enhanced front-line detection, more foreigners were picked up for enhanced screening in 2025, and subsequently refused entry," it said. 

In addition, detected contraband cases also increased by 30.6 per cent in 2025 to around 57,400 cases from 43,900 cases previously.

"Through the Integrated Targeting Centre’s targeting capabilities and the improved profiling skills of checkpoint officers, coupled with close collaboration with other enforcement agencies, there was a 30.6 per cent increase in foiled contraband smuggling attempts," ICA added. - BERNAMA