5.8% decline in marriages, 4.8% in divorces for 2023 - Chief Islamic justice

AMMAN — Jordan has seen a "remarkable" decline in marriages and divorces in 2023, Chief Islamic Justice Abdul Hafez Rabtah said on Saturday.

At a press conference announcing the detailed statistical report of the Supreme Judge Department for 2023, Rabtah said that marriage contracts decreased from 63,972 in 2022 to 59,772 in 2023.

There was a notable decrease in marriages between 16-18 year-olds, which fell from 5,824 cases in 2022 to 5,072 in 2023, showing a decrease of 8.5 per cent, he said, commending the department's successful efforts to promote family stability.

The report also showed a 4.8 per cent decrease in divorces (regardless of the year the marriage occurred) registered in Sharia courts, compared with 2022, while the divorce rate among marriages from the same year remained stable at 5.9 per cent, a figure consistent with previous years, he added.

Additionally, divorces settled by mutual agreement constituted approximately 73 per cent of all cumulative divorce cases in the Kingdom, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Family reconciliation and mediation offices reported an 11 per cent increase in successfully resolved cases, with the total rising to 81,862 in 2023 compared with  2022. Despite handling a higher volume of cases—129,013, up by 10,339 from 2022, the department achieved a completion rate of 97.7 per cent, he added.