JEDDAH: The average number of monthly divorce cases in Saudi Arabia was 1,980 in 2008 against about 1,500 cases in 2007, the Ministry of Justice said in a statistical report published yesterday.

According to the ministry, there were 24,428 divorces in 2008, which is an increase of 5,663 cases over the previous year’s 18,765.

“The average monthly marriages was 9,480 in 2008 while the average monthly divorces was 1,980,” the report said.

The report said 15,851 marriages were registered at the courts last year while 99,698 were registered by marriage officials (maazoun).

The ministry said Riyadh, with 7,085 cases, topped all Saudi cities in divorces while Makkah, with 5,749 cases, came second.

Family medicine consultant Dr. Ahmed Abdul Moneim attributed the rise in divorce cases to a number of reasons, including the absence of religious values, low incomes, intervention of relatives in the personal lives of the married couples and the adverse effect of satellite cable programming.

“The dreadful impact of divorce will not be limited to the husband and wife alone but will extend to children who may suffer a lot of psychological and behavioral problems as a result of the separation of their fathers and mothers,” he said.