Marriages and divorces increase across Kurdistan Region in 2025

2026-02-22 - 22:54

Shafaq News- Erbil Marriage contracts in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq rose by about 20% in 2025, while divorce and separation cases increased by nearly 28% compared with 2024, according to official statistics cited by local authorities on Sunday. The data showed that courts in Erbil, Al-Sulaymaniyah, Duhok, and Kirkuk / Garmian completed 133,936 judicial transactions during 2025, with marriage and separation cases among the most prominent. A total of 61,328 marriage contracts were registered across the Region in 2025, up from 51,018 in 2024, an increase of 10,310 contracts. Divorce and separation cases reached 15,826 in 2025, compared with 12,384 in 2024, marking an increase of 3,442 cases. Al-Sulaymaniyah topped the Region with 25,687 marriage contracts in 2025, Erbil followed with 19,620 marriages, Duhok with 12,955, while Kirkuk / Garmian reported the lowest figure at 3,066 contracts. Divorce and separation cases in 2025 stood at 7,113 in Erbil, 5,369 in Al-Sulaymaniyah, 2,354 in Duhok, and 990 in Kirkuk / Garmian. The statistics also revealed that 107 second marriages were recorded in 2025 after obtaining judicial approval, including 42 in Erbil, 39 in Al-Sulaymaniyah, and 26 in Duhok, while no cases were recorded in Kirkuk / Garmian. In recent years, Iraq has witnessed a shift in divorce patterns, with a growing share of separations occurring within the first two years of marriage despite an overall decline in total divorce cases in 2025, according to data from Iraq’s Supreme Judicial Council. Read more: Vanishing vows: Why Iraqi marriages now fail in months, not years