Record number of marriages, fewer divorces in S’pore in 2022

SINGAPORE - Wedding bells were busy ringing in 2022, with the number of marriages registered being the highest since data on marriages was first compiled and published in 1961.

A total of 29,389 couples said “I do” in 2022, a 3.7 per cent increase from the 28,329 marriages in 2021, the Statistics on Marriages and Divorces 2022 report released on Wednesday by the Department of Statistics (DOS) showed.

The previous record high was in 2014, when 28,407 couples tied the knot.

Meanwhile, fewer couples ended their marriage in 2022. A total of 7,107 marriages ended in a divorce or annulment in 2022, a fall of 9.9 per cent from

the 7,890 marital dissolutions in 2021.

The closure of court services at the Syariah Court to prepare for the implementation of the new Divorce eService from Nov 18 to Dec 4, 2022, was one reason for the fall in Muslim divorces, the report said.

A total of 1,505 Muslim couples divorced in 2022, down from 1,767 in 2021.

The number of non-Muslim marital dissolutions also fell, from 6,123 in 2021 to 5,602 in 2022.

The report noted that the larger number of marital dissolutions in 2021 compared with other years was due to more divorce applications filed in that year and the resumption of divorce proceedings that were previously adjourned due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The top reason for Muslim divorces in 2022 was infidelity, followed by financial problems.

For non-Muslim marriages, the top reason cited for the divorce was “unreasonable behaviour”. This was followed by “lived apart or separated for three years or more”.

Marriage solemnisors and wedding planners say the easing of Covid-19 safe management measures led to a marriage boom in 2022.

Veteran marriage solemnisor Joanna Portilla said that couples found it hard to plan for a wedding in the first two years of the pandemic, given the ever-changing measures to curb the spread of the virus then.

Others wanted to hold a bigger wedding, as there were curbs on the number of guests they could invite given the prevailing safe management measures at that time.

So, many couples postponed their wedding to 2022, when they could invite more guests and hold their dream wedding, Mrs Portilla said. “Many couples were advised by their parents to hold off their wedding celebrations until the situation gets better,” she said of 2022’s record numbers.

“It is also because many of the wedding packages that were bought earlier could no longer be extended, especially when the Covid-19 restrictions were totally lifted.”

The age at which couples tie the knot continued to rise, which has an impact on Singapore’s birth rates and family sizes, academics say. The median age at first marriage for grooms was 30.7 years in 2022, up from 30.1 years a decade ago. For brides, it was 29.3 years in 2022, up from 28 years a decade ago.

Dr Tan Poh Lin, assistant professor at the National University of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy, said that as couples marry later, they also have babies at an older age.

This is because couples typically want some time to adjust to married life, or to enjoy a “honeymoon period” before having a child. And because couples marry and start trying for a child later, more couples are likely to face infertility woes.

In 2022, 78.6 per cent of all marriages involved first-time grooms and brides, an increase from the 74.9 per cent a decade ago.

Meanwhile, the proportion of inter-ethnic marriages remained “largely stable” in the last 10 years.

In 2022, 16.6 per cent of all marriages were between couples of different races.

Ms Roshini Thangarajan, 29, and Mr Kishen Kumar, 31, tied the knot in February 2022 after dating for two years. The couple, who both work as executives, met through mutual friends.

Because of pandemic restrictions, they invited only 250 guests to their wedding – which is less than what they ideally wanted.

Ms Roshini said: “We just wanted to get married and start planning our lives together.”

The couple did not consider going for any pre-marriage courses.

She said: “We felt that we could understand each other well, and we would be able to make compromises for each other, so we didn’t see the need to go for such programmes.”

Now, more than a year into their marriage, the couple are taking it as each day comes.

Some may say love conquers all when two people are wed, but Ms Roshini disagrees. She said: “I think respect is the most important thing in a marriage. If we disagree on something, you can compromise and solve the conflict only if you respect the other person.”