PETALING JAYA: According to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM), the number of divorces in Malaysia has seen an increase from 43,936 cases to 62,890 cases last year.
Chief Statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said during the announcement of the latest marriage and divorce statistics today (Nov 23), that Muslim divorces saw a significant increase of 45.8% in 2022, from 31,650 cases to 46,138 cases.
Similar patterns also were observed in the number of non-Muslims divorces, from 12,286 cases in 2021 to 16,752 cases in 2022.
Uzir mentioned Kedah, Sabah and Perlis recorded the highest increase in divorces cases which involves Muslim couples, while Putrajaya, Johor and Melaka were the highest in the increase in divorces involving non-Muslim couples.
He also said that the most number of divorce cases involved men and women that ranges from 35-39 and 30-34 age group respectively.
Meanwhile, there was a marginal 0.5% decrease in the number of marriage as the overall decrease in marriage figures was influenced by a 4.1% drop in Muslim marriages, amounting to 168,726 cases in 2022 compared to 176,002 in 2021.
“The most significant decline in Muslim marriages was observed in Putrajaya (19.6%), followed by Perak (12.8%) and Terengganu (11.3%).
“However, it is important to note that there is an increase of 15.3% in non-Muslim marriages, rising from 39,971 in 2021 to 46,908 in 2022,” said Uzir.
The states experiencing the highest surge in non-Muslim marriages were Terengganu (40.2%), Johor (26.6%) and Negeri Sembilan (21.1%)
