COVID-19 Pandemic Triggers Sharp Decline in Moroccan Marriages, Spike in Divorces

The number of new marriages has dropped significantly in 2020 compared to 2019 (before Covid), says Abderrazak Bouita, president of the National Association of Young Adouls, to the newspaper Le Matin, noting "a historic decline" in the number of new unions. The health restrictions did not allow more weddings to be celebrated, and despite the easing of these measures, several celebrations were canceled or postponed, he specifies, adding that the economic crisis has also led several couples to give up their marriage projects.

To read: COVID-19 Pandemic Drives Sharp Decline in Moroccan Marriages, Surge in Divorces

To this drop in the number of new marriages, an alarming increase in the number of divorces due to "discord" during the period has been added. "One of the courts in the Kingdom recorded 101 cases of divorce in one month," the official notes, justifying this increase by the withdrawal from the adouls of the prerogative of declaring divorce in favor of the courts, and by the absence of dedicated frameworks to support new couples in these courts.

The president of the Association of Adouls also deplores the practice of many couples exposing their differences on social networks, which in most cases leads to tensions and divorce.