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At present the wedding season is going on. You too must be receiving many wedding cards. But, there is one country in the world where people are avoiding getting married. The marriage rate is decreasing in the Muslim country Qatar. Gradually the youth are avoiding marriages and keeping distance from it.

As of 2018, Qatar had the lowest marriage rate in the world. In which only 1.4 marriages took place per 1,000 population. According to Qatar Open Data, the marriage rate in the country is decreasing year after year. However, the government has also taken several steps to increase the declining marriages.

declining marriage rate

According to PSA (Planning & Statistics Authority), Qatar’s official report, the general marriage rate of the Qatari population (15 years and above) in 2022 was: for males: 19.7 per 1,000, for females: 17.1 per 1,000. The number of divorces in Qatar has not remained constant, but the marriage rate among the Qatari population appears to have been steadily declining since 2006. Whereas in 2010, the marriage rate was 24.3 per 1,000 for men and 23.5 per 1,000 for women. However, there was a slight increase in 2011. It became 25.1 per 1,000 for men and 24.1 for women.

Why are marriage rates decreasing?

According to a 2015 article in Doha News, Qatar’s Ministry of Planning Development and Statistics (MDSP) believes that one of the main reasons for the steady decline in the number of marriages is the increasing level of education of women.

At the same time, another reason is considered to be the high profile marriage of Qatar. MDSP researchers also suggested that people do not get married due to the high cost of marriage and keep postponing it.

According to an article by Al Jazeera, statistics also show that Qatari women are having their first child at an older age and the total number of births is also decreasing.

Government took steps

The government has taken steps due to the decreasing marriage rate in Qatar. Qatar announced major changes to its Civil Human Resources Law in the month of October, which include new financial benefits. Their objective is to strengthen families and improve the performance of government employees.

Under Law No. 25 of 2025, which was issued by Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, now married Qatari couples will receive separate marriage allowances and each husband and wife will also be given a marriage incentive of 12,000 Qatari Riyals i.e. approximately 2 lakh 92 thousand 300 rupees annually.

The aim of this step is to create a better working environment and attract the people of Qatar towards government jobs.

Maternity leave for women

Also, this initiative was also started that maternity leave will be 3 months with full salary and for twins or disabled child it will be 6 months. Permission has also been given to work from home during the last period of pregnancy.

Now, even if both the husband and wife are in government jobs, they will get their respective marriage allowance separately, and to help the youth, annual marriage incentive has also been implemented. Housing allowance has been increased for separated wives.