Marriages in Qatar saw a significant decline during the period 2009-2015. It decreased for males from 29.4 per 1,000 in 2009 to 24.1 per 1,000 in 2015, according to data released by the Ministry of Development Planning and Statistics. Likewise, female rate attained 22.2 in comparison to 27.7 in 2009.
This decline can be attributed to the high level of women’s education and their large participation in the labour market, in addition to the high expenses of marriage.
Most marriages took place in Al-Rayyan Municipality, representing 43.8% of total marriages registered in Qatar. Doha Municipality comes second with a percentage of 30.1%, followed by Umm Salal with 6.7%, Al-Wakra with 6.3%, Al-Sheehaniya with 5.0%, and then the rest of municipalities (Al-Khor, Al-Shamal, Al-Dhaayen) with 5.6%, while marriages outside Qatar accounted for 2.5%.
Marriage contracts for Qatari males and females show a higher percentage for those who have secondary education of the total marriages, where the percentages amounted to 45.0% for males and 63.3% for females. These are followed by males and females who have university degree or above, where the percentages reached 35.6% and 21.0% respectively.
Concerning marriage contracts for Non-Qataris, the higher percentage was for males who have university degree and above (46.6%), followed by non-Qatari males who have secondary education (32.3%) of total contracts.
