‘Alarming’ rise in Saudi divorce rate blamed on social media

Figures released by the Saudi General Authority for Statistics have revealed a dramatic rise in the rate of divorce in the Gulf kingdom.

The latest statistics show that in 2020, there were 57,595 divorces – amounting to 168 per day or seven per hour.

This represented a 12.7 percent increase on the rate of divorce in 2019.

Saudi lawyer Dakhil Al-Dakhil told the local Al-Yaum newspaper that there had been only 9,233 divorces in 2010 although in 2011 the number of divorces had gone up to 34,000.

Al-Yaum reported that one of the factors behind the alarming rise in divorce since 2010 was the effect of social media on society.

Al-Dakhil pointed to the role of social media influencers, telling Al-Yaum that they often gave impractical advice and portrayed life in a way that was too idealized and far removed from reality, giving Saudis unrealistic aspirations.

The lawyer also said that recent increases in the cost of living and the Covid-19 pandemic had also played a major role.

There has been an increase in divorce rates in the Arab world generally in recent years.