In a statement, Chief Statistician Uzir Mahidin said Muslim divorces saw a significant increase of 45.8% in 2022 to 46,138 cases, up from 31,650 the year before.

He said the states that recorded the highest increase in divorce cases involving Muslim couples were Kedah, Sabah and Perlis.

A similar pattern was observed in terms of the number of non-Muslim divorces, from 12,286 cases in 2021 to 16,752 cases in 2022.

Uzir said the highest increase in divorce cases involving non-Muslim couples were in Putrajaya (500%), Johor (61.5%), and Melaka (59%).

“The most number of divorce cases involved men in the age group 35-39, and women who are aged 30-34,” he added.

In terms of the number of marriages, there is a slight decrease of 0.5%.

The decrease in the overall number of marriages was driven by a 4.1% decrease in Muslim marriages, with 168,726 recorded in 2022 compared with 176,002 in 2021.

“The highest decrease in Muslim marriages was recorded in Putrajaya (19.6%), followed by Perak (12.8%) and Terengganu (11.3%),” Uzir said.

However, he added, non-Muslim marriages increased by 15.3% overall, up from 39,971 in 2021 to 46,098 in 2022.

The states with the highest increase in non-Muslim marriages were Terengganu (40.2%), Johor (26.6%), and Negeri Sembilan (21.1%).