KUALA LUMPUR: The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) revealed that the oldest groom recorded last year was 91 years old, while the oldest bride was 86.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said 0.1 per cent of grooms aged over 65 married women aged 24 and below.
According to the Statistics on Marriages and Divorces, Malaysia 2024, the number of marriages saw a a 12.5 per cent decline from 215,022 in 2022 to 188,100 last year.
Meanwhile, the crude marriage rate (CMR) per 1,000 population fell from 6.6 per cent in 2022 to 5.7 per cent in 2023.Mohd Uzir said marriages among Muslims accounted for 74.5 per cent of the total marriages in the country.
"The decline in the number of marriages is attributed to a 16.8 per cent drop in Muslim marriages in 2023 (140,176) compared to 2022 (168,467).
"The three states recorded the biggest drop in Muslim marriages were Selangor (5,674 or 17.4 per cent), Kelantan (3,595 or 17.7 per cent), and Johor (3,249 or 15.8 per cent).
"In contrast, non-Muslim marriages increased by 2.9 per cent, rising from 46,555 in 2022 to 47,924 in 2023.
"The three states showing the highest increase in non-Muslim marriages were Johor (1,154 or 20.1 per cent), Sarawak (920 or 10.6 per cent), and Kuala Lumpur (287 or 8.2 per cent)," he said in a statement today.
Further analysis revealed that 6.2 per cent of marriages in 2023 were between individuals from different ethnic groups.
"Inter-ethnic marriages increased by 28 per cent from 14,028 in 2022 to 17,956 in 2023.
"The composition of inter-ethnic marriages for Muslims was 48.8 per cent, while for non-Muslims, it was 51.6 per cent," he said.
He said the median age of grooms and brides remained at 28 and 26, respectively, with the highest number of marriages recorded among those aged 25 to 29 for both genders.
Meanwhile, he said the divorce cases decreased by 8.7 per cent from 63,338 in 2022 to 57,835 last year.
As a result, the crude divorce rate (CDR) has seen a drop from 1.9 per cent in 2022 to 1.8 per cent in 2023 per 1,000 population.
Divorce cases among Muslims dropped by 3.9 per cent in 2023 (44,322) compared to 2022 (46,138).
"The three states with the highest decline in Muslim divorces were Kelantan (1,250 or 28.7 per cent), Johor (790 or 13 per cent), and Sabah (756 or 19.5 per cent).
"The non-Muslim divorces also fell by 21.4 per cent, from 17,200 in 2022 to 13,513 in 2023.
"The three states with the highest decline in non-Muslim divorces were Selangor (832 or 22.9 per cent), Johor (754 or 26.4 per cent), and Sarawak (512 or 22.9 per cent)," he said.
Uzir concluded that the highest divorce rates were recorded among individuals aged 30 to 34 for both men and women.