CAIRO, Sept 29 (Aswat Masriya) – The divorce rate in 2015 has increased by 83 percent compared to 1996, a study by the Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) said. 

According to the study, the divorce rate stood at 1.2 per 1,000 marriages in the period between 1996-1999, compared to a rate of 2.2 per 1,000 marriages in 2015.

The divorce rate fluctuated in the period in between, reaching 1.1 per 1,000 marriages in 2000-2002 and decreasing to 0.9 per 1,000 marriages in 2005-2006, CAPMAS said.

The rate started to inch up again in 2007, finally reaching 1.9 per 1,000 marriages in 2010-2013.

In 1996-2005, men aged 20-34 recorded the highest divorce rate, reaching 49.7 percent.

Divorce rates also spiked in 2006-2015 among men aged 50-64, reaching 50 percent, compared to a slump in divorce rates among men aged 20 or less in the same period, who recorded an 88 percent decrease, and men aged 20-34, who recorded a 12 percent decrease since 1996.

Women aged 20-34 also recorded the highest divorce rate in 2006-2015, reaching 60.7 percent, with women over 65 recording a meager 0.6 percent.

The average age at divorce was 37 among men and 30 among women in 1996-2005, CAPMAS said, and increased in 2006-2015 at 38 for men and 32 for women.

According to another study by CAPMAS in July, Egypt saw around 200,000 divorce cases during 2015, marking a 10.8 percent increase in divorces from the previous year.