Some five percent of Saudis of both sexes are facing a life with no marital prospects, while a third of marriages ended in divorce in a two-year period, local media said quoting a recently released study.

More than 1.4 million Saudi girls and 100,000 young men remain unmarried, a local daily said quoting a study.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) had the highest divorce rate among the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with a more than 40-percent divorce rate and a 60-percent spinsterhood rate, followed by Qatar, at 38 percent and 15 percent, Kuwait 35 percent and 18 percent, Bahrain 34 percent and 20 percent, and Oman at 29 percent and 17 percent, the report said.

Mohamed Al-Qahtani, assistant professor of sociology, said the problem emanates from the absence of spiritual, religious and social compatibility between couples which, in turn, will fail to produce healthy family units.

“The situation has led to high divorce rates and has shocked a new generation that may be reluctant to get married as a result,” the academician said.

GCC countries are suffering from a population crisis, while Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Oman are experiencing a natural balance between foreign workers and their population.

The UAE, Bahrain and Qatar, meanwhile, continue to suffer from population imbalances since many citizens are married to foreign and Arab nationals, which has led to high separation rates due to social differences, he said.