According to the Marriage and Divorce Statistics, Malaysia, 2021 Report, there was an overall decline of almost 10% in marriages in 2020, compared with the year before.
“The number of marriages in 2020 was 184,589, compared with 203,661 in 2019. That is a decline of 9.4%,” Chief Statistician Mohd Uzir Mahidin said in a statement.
“However, the number of non-Muslim marriages declined at a higher rate of 29.4%.”
Uzir said Johor showed the highest decline in non-Muslim marriages with a drop of 38.4%, followed by Sabah (-36.9%) and Pahang (-36.3%).
As for Muslim marriages, he said, the overall decline was minimal with some states seeing more Muslims getting married.
“There was a 1.8% decline in the overall number of Muslim marriages, with three states or federal territories recording the highest drop, namely Sabah (-19.3%), Labuan (-14.3%) and Selangor (-5.9%).
“On the other hand, there was a substantial increase in the rate of Muslim marriages in Putrajaya, which was up by 14%, followed by Perlis (12.4%) and Kedah (8.4%),” he said.
The report attributed the drop in marriages to the movement control orders (MCOs) and strict SOPs put in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic since March 2020.
The first MCO with a full lockdown was implemented from March 18 to May 3 and a conditional MCO and recovery MCO followed until the end of the year.
“The number of marriages dropped significantly by 88% in April, with only 1,694 taking place, compared with 14,056 in April 2019,” he said.
According to Uzir, the trend in fewer marriages in 2020 also showed up in terms of inter-ethnic couples, with a drop of 35.6% compared with the year before.
The report showed that the age demographic for couples getting married was consistent with previous years, with the highest number of marriages involving those aged 25 to 29 for both grooms and brides.
“We also found that the oldest groom was 92 while the oldest bride tied the knot at the age of 84 in 2020,” he said.
Uzir said the trend in marrying late was more prevalent in urban areas.
“The current scenario shows that the tendency for late marriages is among the educated and working population. They tend to prefer strengthening their financial positions, particularly those living in urban areas, prior to getting married,” he said.
He also said the national population and family development board had reported that postponing marriage will shorten the reproductive period and cause fertility rates to decline.
“Decreased fertility is closely linked to the rising cost of living and the challenges young parents face, thus making them postpone marriage plans,” he said.