Drop in number of marriages in 2020

Chief statistician Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin, in a statement following the release of the report, said the decrease in the number of marriages in 2020 was contributed by a 1.8 per cent decline in the number of Muslim marriages, which was 145,202 compared to 147,847 in 2019.

The number of non-Muslim marriages also declined from 55,814 in 2019, to 39,387 in 2020, he added.

He said the median age for brides decreased from 27.0 years in 2019 to 26.0 years in 2020, while the median age of grooms remained at 28.0 years.

Mohd Uzir said the COVID-19 pandemic and the implementation of Movement Control Order (MCO) had had an impact on marriage statistics in Malaysia.

Statistics showed that during the implementation of the MCO, the number of marriages dropped significantly by 88 per cent in April 2020, from 14,056 in 2019 to 1,694 in April 2020.

Mohd Uzir said the number of divorces in 2020 was 45,754, which showed a declining trend compared to 56,624 in 2019.

"The highest number of divorces falls under the age group of 30-34 years for both grooms and brides," he said.

In tandem with the decline in the number of divorces, the general divorce rate for males decreased from 7.2 to 5.8 per 1,000 population of married males aged 18 years and over.

A similar trend was also reported for females, from 7.7 to 6.1 per 1,000 population of married females aged 16 years and over.