Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — The rates of marriages among Saudis has increased by 8.9 percent in 2020, compared to 2019, according to data on marriage contracts from the Ministry of Justice records, the General Authority for Statistics (GaStat) revealed.

In this regard, the total number of marriage contracts reached 150,117, with Al-Jouf region ranking first with the highest marriage rate, exceeding 18 percent, followed by the Northern Border Region with 12.5 percent, then Hail, the Eastern Province, Makkah, and finally Riyadh region.

The months of August and September saw the registration of most of the marriage contracts, compared to other months of the year, the Authority added.

Meanwhile, the divorce rate too rose by 12.7 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, as the total number of divorce certificates issued reached 57,595, most of which were registered during the last three months of 2020, GaStat said.