Kuala Lumpur, Nov 21 (IANS): Malaysia has recorded a lower number of marriages and divorces in 2023, official data showed Thursday.

The Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM) said in a statement that the number of marriages in the country stood at 188,100 in 2023, a decrease of 12.5 per cent as compared to 215,022 in 2022, Xinhua reported.

Thus, the crude marriage rate decreased to 5.7 per thousand population in 2023, from 6.6 in 2022.

According to the DOSM, the median age for grooms and brides remained at 28 and 26, respectively.

The highest number of marriages falls under the age group 25-29 years for both grooms and brides.

Meanwhile, the number of divorces in Malaysia fell 8.7 per cent to 57,835 in 2023 from 63,338 in 2022.

The crude divorce rate, therefore, improved to 1.8 per thousand population in 2023 from 1.9 in 2022.

According to the DOSM, the highest number of divorces falls under the age group 30-34 years for males and females.