In August 2022, the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics released the Annual Bulletin of Marriage and Divorce for 2021. According to the bulletin, the number of marriage licenses was 880,041 in 2021, up from 876,015 licenses in 2020, recording an increase of 0.5 percent.
Moreover, the number of divorce cases in 2021 reached 254,777 cases, up from 222,036 cases in 2020, recording an increase of 14.7 percent. Accordingly, a divorce case occurs every two minutes, 25 to 28 divorces occur every hour, and the number of cases per day is estimated at 630, at a rate of 18,500 cases per month.
According to the report, 12 percent of the divorce cases occurred during the first year of marriage, compared to nine percent the following year, and 6.5 percent during the third year.
The number of final divorce rulings reached 11,194 in 2021, an increase of 38.4 percent when compared to 2020. Additionally, the number of divorce rulings in urban areas reached 10,888, an increase of 37.4 percent, while the number of divorce rulings in rural areas was 306, representing only 2.7 percent of total rulings.
The urban divorce rate was 3.3 per thousand in 2021, and rural areas 1.9 per thousand. The highest divorce rate was 5.4 per thousand in the city of Cairo, while the lowest divorce rate was 1.1 per thousand in Asyut governorate.
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As for the age of divorce, the highest divorce rate was recorded in the age group of 30 to less than 35 years old reaching 48342 certificates, with a rate of 19.8 percent, while the age group with the lowest divorce rate was from 18 to less than 20 years old, with 390 certificates, 0.2 percent of total certificates. The average divorce age was 40.1 in 2021.
As for divorced women, the highest rate of divorce was recorded in the age group of 25 to under 30 years old, reaching 43427 certificates at 17.8 percent. On the other hand, the lowest rate of divorce was recorded in the age group of 65 years or above, with 1637 certificates, 0.7 percent of all certificates. The average age of divorced women was 33.8 years old in 2021.
- Divorce Rates Continue to Rise:
Recent data indicated that divorce rates in Egypt have increased by 14.7 percent in comparison to last year. Additionally, this recent increase was not the only one, because, since 2009, divorce rates have been increasing steadily, except for 2016 and 2020. In 2009, 141.5 thousand divorce cases were recorded, and this number increased to reach 149.5 thousand cases in 2010. With a slower increasing rate, the number of divorce cases reached 151.9 thousand cases in 2011 and then 155.3 thousand cases in 2012. After that, there was a substantial rise in 2013 when the number of cases reached 162.6 thousand, then there was another significant rise in rates in 2014 and 2015, reaching 180.3 thousand and 199.9 thousand cases, respectively. Following that, there was a slight decline in 2016 with 192.1 cases, then the index rose again, where 198.3 thousand divorces were registered in 2017, then the increase continued reaching 211.6 thousand in 2018 and 225.9 thousand in 2019. The second decrease, although minor, happened in 2020, when 222.0 thousand divorce cases were recorded, then the index went back up reaching 254.8 thousand divorce cases in 2021.
Rights reserved to the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics, the primary source of official statistics in Egypt.
Egypt in the World Population Report
According to the World Population Report 2022, Egypt ranked 20th in divorce rates around the world in 2022, recording 2.3 divorces per 1000 individuals within the population. Maldives, which ranks the highest in the world in divorce rates, records 5.52 cases, then it’s followed by Kazakhstan with a rate of 4.6 divorce cases. Russia is next with a rate of 309 divorce cases, followed by Belarus with a rate of 3.7 divorce cases. China ranks 7th with a rate of 3.2 divorce cases, while the United States ranks 13th with a rate of 2.7 divorce cases. As for Arab countries, Libya ranks 18th with a rate of 2.5 divorce cases per 1000 individuals. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia ranked 27th with a rate of 2.1 divorces, compared to Algeria and Jordan each 57th with a rate of 1.6 divorces, respectively.
Update and Divorce: Risks to the Family
The growing rates of divorce in developed countries indicate the pressures on families in modern societies, which is confirmed by the large disparity in divorce rates between urban and rural Egypt. Divorce rates in rural areas are much less than in urban ones, which means that rural families are more sustainable and longer-lived than urban ones, thus indicating the pressures faced by families in modern urban societies.
Inherited social traditions continue to dictate human relations in rural areas. Elaborating, the choice of a husband or a wife is still largely controlled by the father, the mother, and male brothers, as well as the extent to which the parents know the girl’s parents or the parents of the young man proposing. In the end, the father’s opinion is the overriding view to be implemented, and in the same rhythm, the termination of marital relationships is largely linked to the parents’ opinion and is not left to the parties of the relationship alone.
In rural areas, there is a fear of divorce and society’s view of divorced women. Explaining further, a woman might not want to divorce sometimes for the fear of the stigma of society, the poor perception of divorced women, and the low chances of remarriage. Not only this, but her divorce might affect the marriage of her daughters in the future, due to the popular proverbs that say that a daughter always resembles her mother.
The inherited culture in rural areas encourages the continuation of married life. Additionally, this stereotype stems from the idea of the importance of the presence of a husband and married life that continues even without happiness. This is reflected in popular proverbs that are passed along generations, which encourage patience in marriage life, the importance of having a man on which women can lean and depend, and that having many children prevents family breakdowns, where the chance of a divorce in the family of many children is very low, and so on.
The marriage of relatives is widespread in rural areas and is regarded as one of the reasons to protect the family, despite having other negative effects. Although there are no official statistics on the marriage of relatives in Egypt, some research has indicated that the percentage of marriages of relatives in rural areas reaches 50 percent.
In conclusion, the pressures faced by families will continue, which highlights the importance of speedy, radical, and comprehensive solutions to reduce high divorce rates. Accordingly, it’s proposed to establish a supreme national committee to follow up on the divorce file in Egypt in terms of causes and means of confrontation, while following up on performance indicators on the ground. This is in addition to working on unifying scattered efforts and formulating them in an organizational framework that aims to reduce the rise in numbers.
Legally, the proposed amendments to the personal status law must be finalized quickly.
Socially, it’s important to address the negative effects of divorce, especially on children, who are considered the first victim of divorce, by allocating comprehensive national programs to them, under the supervision of concerned authorities, practically and objectively.
This coincides with the need to create different media platforms in the state to shine a light on successful and long-term marriages, or close-knit families as positive role models for others to learn from, as well as learn about their experiences and stability during their life journey, through talk shows and television drama. This would be alongside supporting awareness-raising campaigns to facilitate marriage and avoid spending and expenses that many young men cannot afford, to provide family reassurance and a decent life for families after marriage, especially in the first three years.
It’s essential to mainstream family counseling centers in various governorates, while intensifying awareness-raising programs and lectures in public places, the metro, and universities and schools, to raise young girls’ and boys’ awareness of the consequences of divorce, especially with the presence of children. The state shouldn’t be satisfied with “Mawadda” as the only program, where it’s important to strengthen the role of the “Family Unification” unit of Al-Azhar, to bring the views of spouses closer together, and to help them solve their problems before they are exacerbated and reach a stalemate.
