Marriage boom, divorce spike in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2025

Marriage boom and divorce spike in Iraqi Kurdistan in 2025 — Wedding ceremony of a Kurdish couple in Iraqi Kurdistan, 2025. Photo: Video FB/via iKurd.net.

ERBIL,— Marriage and divorce both rose across Iraq’s Kurdistan Region in 2025, according to detailed statistics released on February 22, 2026, by the region’s Judicial Council.

The council reported that 61,328 marriages and 15,826 divorces were registered in 2025, compared with 51,018 marriages and 12,387 divorces in 2024, reflecting significant increases in both categories.

Sulaimani recorded the highest number of marriages, while Erbil recorded the highest number of divorces.

The statistics cover Erbil, Sulaimani and Duhok Provinces. Halabja is counted within Sulaimani’s figures. Data from the Garmian Administration are recorded under the courts of Kirkuk/Garmian, though the figures do not include Kirkuk Province itself.

Marriage by Province

In 2025, marriages were distributed as follows:

Erbil: 19,620
Sulaimani: 25,678
Garmian Administration: 3,066
Duhok: 12,955

All provinces recorded increases compared with 2024:

Engagement ceremony of a Kurdish couple in Sulaimani, Iraqi Kurdistan, 2025. Photo: Video FB/via iKurd.net

Erbil rose from 17,591 in 2024 to 19,620 in 2025, an increase of 2,029 marriages.
Sulaimani rose from 18,522 to 25,678, an increase of 7,165 marriages.
Duhok rose from 12,199 to 12,955, an increase of 756 marriages.
Garmian rose from 2,706 to 3,066, an increase of 360 marriages.

Divorce by Province

In 2025, the 15,826 divorces were recorded as follows:

Erbil: 7,113
Sulaimani: 5,369
Garmian Administration: 990
Duhok: 2,354

Compared with 2024:

Erbil increased from 3,878 to 7,113, a rise of 3,235 divorces.
Sulaimani decreased from 5,745 to 5,369, a decline of 376 divorces.
Duhok increased from 2,032 to 2,354, a rise of 321 divorces.
Garmian increased from 728 to 990, a rise of 262 divorces.

In Erbil Province alone, 435 divorces were attributed to drug addiction.

Court Permissions for Second Marriages

The council reported that 107 men were granted court permission to take a second wife in 2025. The permissions were distributed as follows:

Erbil: 42
Sulaimani: 39
Duhok: 26
Garmian: 0

Reasons for Divorce

The Judicial Council published detailed causes of divorce for Erbil and Duhok but did not release similar data for Sulaimani or Garmian.

In Erbil, the most common reason was incompatibility between spouses, accounting for 1,232 cases.

Other major causes included disputes related to mobile phones and the internet, 1,066 cases, marital infidelity, 918, economic hardship, 880, and lack of separate housing, 869.

Social reasons were cited in 561 cases, drug addiction in 435, age differences in 368 and imprisonment in 344. Smaller numbers were attributed to infertility, 62, taking a second wife, 57, illness, 29, domestic violence, 6, and other reasons, 286.

In Duhok, incompatibility was also the leading cause, cited in 1,328 cases. It was followed by disputes related to mobile phones and the internet, 175, social reasons, 136, economic hardship, 126, and marital infidelity, 114.

Other causes included age differences, 60, taking a second wife, 50, drug addiction, 48, illness, 15, infertility, 14, imprisonment, 9, religious reasons, 2, domestic violence, 2, and other reasons, 104.

The figures show that while marriages increased substantially across the Kurdistan Region in 2025, divorces also rose sharply in most provinces, particularly in Erbil, underscoring shifting social and economic pressures in the region.

(With files from Rudaw)