Divorce rate in Oman drops by eight percent

Muscat: Oman’s divorce rate fell by more than eight per cent in 2020, according to figures released by the National Centre for Statistics and Information (NCSI).

The divorce rate last year fell by 8.1 percent, reflecting a decrease of 192 divorce cases between Omanis, and 17 cases between nationals of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Omani women, the NCSI revealed in its Marriage and Divorce Bulletin 2021.

3,426 divorce certificates were issued in Oman last year, which came up to about nine a day. Muscat recorded the highest number of divorces, at 796, followed by North Al Batinah (672), while Musandam had the lowest number of divorces (18).

There has also been an increase in the number of marriage certificates issued, with 2.1 per cent more issued in 2020, compared to 2019. 18,621 marriage certificates were issued in 2020, with 3,938 of them issued in North Al Batinah, an 11 per cent increase compared to the previous year.

Muscat also recorded an increase in the number of marriage certificates issued, climbing 1.9 per cent to register a total of 3,354 certificates. Musandam Governorate came at the bottom of the list with 104 certificates issued in 2020, a decrease of 31.1 per cent compared to 2019.

NCSI data also indicated a decrease of 180 marriages between Omanis and expatriates in 2020. The number of Omanis married to GCC women also declined by 49, compared to 2019.

Additionally, the number of Omani women married to GCC citizens decreased by 65. The number of Omani women getting wedded to expatriates also fell by 53 marriages in 2020.

According to figures from the NCSI, the number of expatriates in Oman has fallen from 1,745,714 at the start of 2021, to 1,720,955 on 28 December. Expatriates make up about 38 per cent of Oman’s population.

During this period of nearly 12 months, the number of Omanis in the country has risen from 2,735,991 to 2,803,608.

Overall, the population of the country has risen from 4,481,705 on 1 January to 4,524,563 on 28 December. The highest proportion of expatriates live in Muscat (737,523, as of November 2021), while the population count for Omanis is in North Al Batinah (562,326), followed by the capital (555,712).