JEDDAH: Saudi men who marry foreign women prefer Yemeni and Syrian women. On the other hand, Saudi women who marry foreigners prefer Yemeni and Kuwaiti husbands.
According to statistics for 2015 from the Justice Ministry, wives of Saudis are of 35 nationalities. Saudi women choose men from 33 nationalities.
Saudi women prefer to marry Yemeni men as well as those from Syria, Iraq and Palestine. Statistics showed that 505 women were married to Yemenis. At the bottom of the women’s preferred list were men from Iraq, Morocco, Bangladesh, Ethiopia, and Sri Lanka.
The statistics show that Kuwaiti men were second on the list of those preferred by Saudi women. Kuwaiti husbands numbered 152 and were followed by Syrians at 118, Qataris at 93 and Egyptians at 85.
The number of Saudi women marrying Palestinians was 49; 48 from Pakistan; 46 from Jordan; 34 from other nationalities. Nationality-wise they were Sudanese 20; Nigerians 18; Bahrainis 13; Lebanese 11; Americans 9; Indians 2; Europeans 7; Burmese and Afghans 6 each; British and Turks 5 each; Eritrea and Mauritania 4 each; Tunisia 3; Turkistan and Indonesia one each.
The number of Saudi men marrying women from other nations are Yemenis at 1,015; Syrians at 183; Palestinians at 125; Pakistanis at 109; Egyptians at 80; Jordanians at 60; and other nationalities at 51. The number of Saudi men marrying Moroccan women were 40; Indians at 23; Afghans at 17; Sudanese 16; Kuwaitis 15; Indonesians and Eritreans at 12 each; Iraqis and Lebanese at 10 each; Philippines at 8; Bahrainis at 6; Bangladeshis, Americans and Ethiopians at 5 each; Mauritania and Turkey at 4 each; Emiratis, Algerians and Turkistani at 3 each.
The number of Saudi marriages to women from Mali, Thailand, Europe and Chad were two for each, while it was one each for Oman, Tunisia, Burma and Britain, according to to a report in a local daily.
Cultural compatibility dictates choice of foreign spouse
Cultural compatibility dictates choice of foreign spouse
