PUTRAJAYA – The number of marriages last year fell by 1.2% to 203,821 compared with 206,352 in 2018, the Marriage and Divorce Statistics, Malaysia, 2020 report revealed today.
The report also found that the number of divorces increased by 12% to 56,975 last year from 50,862 in 2018.
Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in tandem with the decline in the number of marriages, general marriage rate for grooms declined from 50.7 to 50.1 per 1,000 population of unmarried males aged 18 years and above.
A similar trend was also recorded for brides, where a decline from 47.0 to 46.2 per 1,000 population of unmarried females aged 16 years and over was observed, he said in a statement.
Uzir said the general divorce rate for males increased to 7.2 per 1,000 population from 6.5 of married males aged 18 years and over, with a similar trend reported for women, increasing from 7.0 to 7.7 per 1,000 population of married females aged 16 years and above.
“The median age of grooms remains at 28 years. The median age for brides increased from 26 years (2018) to 27 years (2019),” he said.
“The current scenario shows that the tendency for late marriages is among those who are educated and working towards strengthening their individual economic stability, especially those living in urban areas,” he said, adding that this is in line with the increase in urbanisation rate in Malaysia from 70.9% in 2010 to 76.2% in 2019.
Uzir said the statistics also showed that the oldest groom and bride last year were recorded at 93 and 86 years old, respectively.
“Approximately 0.3% grooms aged 65 years and over married younger brides in the age group of 24 years and below, while 0.2% brides aged 65 years and over married younger grooms aged 24 years old and below.” – Bernama, November 30, 2020
