KUALA LUMPUR: Divorce rate nationwide has increased by 12 per cent as the number of people getting hitched saw a reduction as marriages declined by 1.2 per cent in 2019, said the Department of Statistics.
Its chief Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the number of divorces increased 12 per cent from 50,862 (2018) to 56,975 last year.
"This was in tandem with the decline in the number of marriages, the general marriage rate for grooms declined from 50.7 to 50.1 per thousand population of unmarried males aged 18 years and over.
"The number of marriages was 203,821 in 2019, a drop of 1.2 per cent as compared to 206,352 in 2018.
"The general divorce rate for males increased from 6.5 to 7.2 per thousand population of married males aged 18 years and above while a similar trend was also reported for females, increasing from 7 to 7.7 per thousand population of married females aged 16 years and over," he said in a statement here today.
Uzir said that Muslim divorces increased by 13 per cent from 40,269 to 45,502, while non-Muslim divorces went up by 8.3 per cent from 10,593 to 11,473.
He was referring to the department's report on Marriage and Divorce Statistics, Malaysia, 2020 which presents the statistics on marriage and divorce for 2018 and 2019 by demographic characteristics at national, state and administrative district.
On marriages involving Muslims, Uzir said there was a drop last year, at 1.5 per cent or 147,847 when compared to 150,098 in 2018.
"The general marriage rate for grooms dropped from 61.1 to 60.3 per thousand population of unmarried Muslim males aged 18 years and over.
"Similar trend was also recorded for brides, which saw a decline from 56 to 54.9 per thousand population of unmarried Muslim females aged 16 years and over was observed," he said.
For non-Muslims marriages declined by 0.5 per cent from 56,254 (2018) to 55,974 (2019), Uzir said.
"The general marriage rate for grooms declined from 34.8 to 34.6 per thousand population of unmarried Non-Muslim males aged 18 years and over.
"There was also a drop in non-Muslim brides aged 16 and above, from 32.9 to 32.5 per thousand population of unmarried Non-Muslim females," he said.
Uzir added that the Petaling district has the highest number of marriages for Muslim and non-Muslims alike in 2019 with 7,030 and 4,038 marriages for the respective community.
Uzir said the report also observed a decline for brides from 47 to 46.2 per thousand population of unmarried females aged 16 years and over.
The report, he sais, also stated that while the median age of grooms remained at 28 years, the median age for brides increased from 26 years (2018) to 27 years (2019).
"The tendency for late marriages are among those who are educated and working towards strengthening their economic stability especially those living in urban areas," he said, adding the trend was in line with the increasing urbanisation rate in Malaysia from 70.9 per cent (2010) to 76.2 per cent (2019).
Uzir said there was an increase in mixed marriages last year.
"Almost 11 per cent (22,134) of total marriages in 2019 involving grooms and brides were of different ethnic groups, an increase from 9.0 per cent in 2018 (18,620)," he said.
Uzir added that the oldest groom and bride recorded were 93 and 86 years old in 2019.
It was reported that 0.3 per cent grooms aged 65 years and over had married younger better-half's from the age group of 24 years and below.