KUALA LUMPUR: Fewer couples are tying the knot as the number of marriages slightly dropped in 2017 compared to the previous year.
Malaysian Statistics Department chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahadin said the number of marriages decreased from 200,274 in 2016 to 190,532 last year, which also reflected in the nation’s crude marriage rate (CMR).
“The CMR per 1,000 population declined from 6.3 per cent (2016) to 5.9 per cent (2017),” said Mohd Uzir in a statement on the Marriage and Divorce Statistics Malaysia 2018 today.
CMR is the figures of marriages occurred among the population of a given geographical area during a given year, per 1,000 mid-year population of the given geographical area during the same year.
The number of marriages among Muslims and Non-Muslims community, said Mohd Uzir, declined by 6.1 per cent and 1.8 per cent respectively last year compared to 2016.
“Number of marriages among Muslims recorded in 2017 was 134,008 compared to 142,712 registered in 2016.
“Subsequently, CMR per 1,000 Muslim population decreased from 7.4 (2016) to 6.8 (2017).
“Similarly, non-Muslim marriages declined by 1.8 percent 56,524 (in 2017) from 57,562 in 2016.
“Thus, CMR per 1,000 non-Muslim population decreased from 4.7 (2016) to 4.5 (2017),” he said.
Mohd Uzir said the general marriage rate for men per 1,000 unmarried males aged 18 and above last year stood at 47.2 per cent.
The general marriage rate for women per 1,000 unmarried females aged 16 and above for the same, he said, was 44 per cent.
“Last year, people aged between 25 and 29 recorded the highest number of marriages which is 41.3 per cent for men and 40.2 per cent for women respectively,” he said.
The number of divorce cases also recorded a decline last year.
Mohd Uzir said the number of divorces improved by 3.2 per cent from 51,642 (2016) to 49,965 (2017). The crude divorce rate (CDR), however, remained at 1.6 per 1,000 populations despite the drop in the number of divorces.
“The number of Muslim divorces recorded in 2017 was 39,709 compared to 41,030 (2016).
“Consequently, CDR per 1,000 Muslim population decreased from 2.1 in 2016 to 2.0 the following year.
“Number of divorce cases among non-Muslim couples also registered a 3.4 per cent decline from 10,612 (2016) to 10,256 (2017),” he said, adding that the CDR per 1,000 non-Muslim populations slightly improved to 0.8 last year from 0.6 in 2016.
The general divorce rate for male per 1,000 married males aged 18 and above was 6.5 percent last year. This is slightly lower compared to the general divorce rate for females per 1,000 married females aged 16 and above, which stood at 7 per cent during the same year.
“People aged between 30 and 34 recorded the highest number of divorce cases, which are 22 per cent and 23.4 per cent for males and females respectively.”