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The Statistics Department has revealed that divorces in Malaysia increased by 12% last year while the number of marriages dropped by 1.2%.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said there were 56,975 divorces last year compared with 50,862 in 2018, while marriages decreased to 203,821 in 2019 compared with 206,352 the year before.
“The general divorce rate for males increased from 6.5% to 7.2% per thousand population of married males aged above 18.
“A similar trend was also reported for females, increasing from 7% to 7.7% per thousand population of married females aged above 16,” he said in a statement yesterday (November 30th).
Meanwhile, the average age of the groom remains at 28 years, while the average age of the bride increased from 26 years (2018) to 27 years (2019).
Dr Uzir pointed out that the increase in the average age of the bride was also due to the increase in the average age of the mother during the first birth which increased by 0.1 years from 27.8 in 2018 to 27.9 last year.
“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.
He added that the trend was in line with the increasing urbanisation rate in Malaysia from 70.9% (2010) to 76.2% (2019).
And here’s another interesting take from Dr Uzir’s statement…
Statistics also revealed that the oldest groom and bride recorded were 93 and 86-years-old respectively in 2019, which further revealed 0.3% grooms aged 65 years and over had married younger better-half's from the age group of 24 years and below.
What do you think about these numbers?