2022 saw 15.2% fewer marriages, says Chief Islamic Justice

AMMAN — Jordan has witnessed a remarkable decline in marriages in 2022 compared with 2021, down by 15.2 per cent, or 11,526 contracts, Chief Islamic Justice Abdul Hafez Rabtah said on Monday.

Rabtah, announcing the detailed statistical report of the Supreme Judge Department for 2022, said that the Kingdom witnessed 75,360 marriage contracts in 2021, which decreased to 63,834 contracts in 2022, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

“This figure must be viewed by all authorities for analysis,” he stressed, noting a need to discern the causes and expected effects of the continued decline in the number of marriages, which has been decreasing for many consecutive years.

In 2022, Sharia courts saw a decrease in the proportion of marriage contracts for those aged 16 years old, down 27.5 per cent in 2022 compared with 2021, or 5,824 marriages, down from 8,037. 

He revealed that the number of divorces (regardless of the year the marriage occurred) registered in Sharia courts decreased by 6.8 per cent in 2022, or 1,952 cases, compared with 2021.  

In this regard, Rabtah said that the number of divorces stood at 28,708 cases in 2021, while in 2022 saw 26,756 divorces. The divorce rate from the same was 5.8 per cent in 2022, which was almost constant compared with previous years.