THE number of marriages and divorces in the country decreased by 12.5% from 2022 to 2023, with the highest rates recorded in Kelantan (-17.7%), Selangor (-12.4%) and Johor (-8%).
According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) this was mainly attributed to the higher cost of getting married.
Datuk Sri Dr. Mohd Uzir Mahidin, Chief Statistician Malaysia said the number of marriages recorded in 2023 was 188,100, marking a decrease of 12.5 per cent as compared to 215,022 in 2022.
Muslim marriages contributed to 74.5 per cent of total marriages in 2023.
Three states that registered the highest decrease in Muslim marriages were Selangor (5,674:17.4%), followed by Kelantan (3,595:17.7%) and Johor (3,249:15.8%).
As for the number of non-Muslim marriages, it increased at 2.9 per cent from 46,555 (2022) to 47,924 (2023) with Johor recording the highest rate at 20.1%, followed by Sarawak (10.6%) and Kuala Lumpur (8.2%).
Uzir also said that in 2023, 6.2 per cent of total marriages were between grooms and brides of different ethnic groups.
The number of inter-ethnic marriages increased 28.0 per cent from 14,028 (2022) to 17,956.
The composition of inter-ethnic marriages among Muslims was 48.8 per cent and 51.6 per cent for non-Muslims.
He added the median age for grooms and brides remained at 28 and 26 years, respectively, with the highest number of marriages falling under the age group of 25-29 years.
The statistics also showed that the oldest groom and bride in 2023 were 91 and 86 years old, respectively.
Only 0.1 per cent of grooms aged 65 years and over married younger brides aged 24 years and below.
Petaling district, Selangor recorded the highest number of marriages in 2023 for both Muslims and Non-Muslims.
For divorces, Uzir said that the number of divorces decreased by 8.7% from 63,338 (2022) to 57,835 (2023).
The number of Muslim divorces decreased by 3.9 per cent in 2023 (44,322) as compared to 2022 (46,138).
Three states that recorded the highest decrease in Muslim divorces were Kelantan (28.7%), Johor (13.0%), and Sabah (19.5%).
Similarly, Non-Muslim divorces also decreased by 21.4% from 17,200 (2022) to 13,513 (2023).
The highest number of divorces for males and females were under the age group 30-34. - November 22, 2024
