Planning Ministry official: Iraq's divorce rate lowest in Arab world

Shafaq News/ Iraq has the lowest divorce rate among Arab nations when compared to its population size, according to Maha Abdul Kareem Al-Rawi, Director General of Human Development at Iraq's Ministry of Planning.

Speaking at a workshop on Wednesday addressing the causes and solutions for divorce in Iraq, Al-Rawi presented data from Iraq's Supreme Judicial Council, noting that “divorce is driven by a range of factors, including early marriages, poverty, unemployment, and social problems affecting the country’s youth.”

Al-Rawi explained the Ministry’s National Development Plan (2024-2028), which includes a program aimed at “strengthening core values and fostering societal cohesion.”

“Despite Iraq’s relatively low divorce rate compared to other Arab nations, there is a need for comprehensive solutions to address the root causes of the issue and reduce divorce rates further.” She said.

Over 357,000 Cases In Four Years

The head of the Strategic Human Rights Center in Iraq, Fadel al-Gharawi told Shafaq News Agency that divorce rates in Iraq have been rising over the past four years, posing a threat to family and societal stability.

Divorce Figures

“The number of registered divorce cases in Iraq, excluding the Kurdistan Region (KRI), has reached 357,887 over the past four years,” al-Gharawi stated.

Statistics from the Supreme Judicial Council showed that “there were 73,155 recorded divorce cases in 2021, which decreased to 68,410 in 2022 but rose to 71,016 in 2023.”

“During the first seven months of 2024, 45,306 divorce cases were recorded."

Between 2004 and 2014, divorce rates were high, with one in five marriages ending in divorce, totaling 516,784 cases out of 2.6 million marriages, excluding the KRI.

Iraq Out Of 2024 Arab Divorce Rates List

According to a report published by Data Pandas, a reputable source for global data and statistics, Iraq is absent from the list of Arab countries ranked for divorce rates in 2024.

The report, which measures divorce rates per 1,000 people, shows Libya with the highest rate at 2.5, followed by Egypt at 2.3 and Saudi Arabia at 2.1. Algeria, Jordan, and Lebanon each have a rate of 1.6, while Syria and Kuwait report a rate of 1.3. The United Arab Emirates and Qatar have the lowest rates at 0.7 per 1,000 people.