Marriage in UAE on the rise…and divorces

Marriages in the UAE have steadily risen over the past few years but this has only led to a sharp increase in divorce cases involving both Emirati and expatriate spouses, according to official statistics.

The surge in marriage appears to be linked to the economic boom in the country as it recorded the highest growth in many years through 2008,when the economy of the UAE and other Gulf hydrocarbon exporters were at their peak after crude prices climbed to a record high average of nearly $95 a barrel.

In contrast, divorces appear to be associated with the economic downturn as such cases leaped by nearly 23 per cent in 2009, when the region and other countries were jolted by the 2008 global fiscal distress.

The report by the National Bureau of Statistics gave no figures for 2010 but according to the state Marriage Fund, divorces remained high through 2010 as economic uncertainty persisted, maintaining the UAE’s position as having the highest rate of divorce-to-marriage in the oil-rich Gulf.

From 13,001 in 2005, total marriages in the UAE rose to 13,190 in 2006 and 13,321 in 2007 before jumping to 15,041 in 2008 to record their highest annual growth rate of 12.9 per cent. Marriages continued to rise in the following year but at a much slower rate of 0.8 per cent to reach 15,175.

The report showed divorces dropped from 3,638 in 2005 to 3,335 in 2006 before surging to 3,761 in 2007. They rose by about 2.5 per cent to 3,855 in 2008 before jumping by 23 per cent to 4,760 in 2009.

A breakdown for 2007 showed 1,580 divorces involved Emirati couples while 672 involved Emirati husband and expatriate wives. It showed 129 divorce cases involved expatriate husbands and Emirati wives while 1,380 cases involved expatriate couples.In 2008, Emirati couples maintained the highest divorce rate of 1,737 while 676 divorces involved national husbands and foreign wives.

The report showed 115 cases involved foreign husbands and Emirati wives while 1,327 divorces comprised expatriate couples.In 2009, divorce of national couples climbed to a record high rate of 2,123 while there were 680 divorces involving Emirati husbands and foreign wives.The report showed 473 divorces involved expatriate husbands and national wives while 1,484 cases included foreign couples.

In its report, the Marriage Fund said that more than a fifth of the marriages involving national spouses in the UAE ended up in divorce in 2010, maintaining the country’s status as having the highest divorce rate in the region.Marriages involving local spouses totalled 10,008 last year, including 7,553 national couples, 1,798 native men and foreign women, and 737 local women and foreign men, the report showed.

Excluding foreign couples, divorces totalled 2,181 accounting for nearly 21.6 per cent of the total marriages, the highest divorce rate in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), which groups the UAE with five other Gulf nations.Divorces in mixed marriages were much higher than those in local marriages, accounting for 27.2 per cent in 2010 compared with 19.6 per cent among national spouses. Divorce was highest in marriages involving local husbands and foreign wives, standing at around 32.4 per cent. 

Divorce was lowest in marriages involving foreign husbands and national wives accounting for 15.1 per cent.The report showed there were 1,278 divorce cases among expatriate couples but gave no figures on their marriages.
 

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