Weddings between Emiratis made up nearly half the total of marriages registered with courts in 2012.
Twelve per cent were marriages between Emirati men and expatriate women, 5 per cent Emirati women and expatriate men and 35.8 per cent expatriates couples, according to a report issued by the National Statistics Centre on Sunday, Al Ittihad, The National's Arabic-language sister newspaper.
A total of 14,934 marriages were registered by the courts, including 6,962 marriages between Emirati nationals, 1,791 marriages between Emirati men and expat women, 824 marriages between Emirati women and expat men and 5,357 marriages between expats.
The number of divorces registered in 2012 fell to 3,901, compared with 4,145 during 2011, a 6 per cent drop.
Just over 1,700 Emirati nationals divorced, compared with 1,849 in 2011. There were 647 divorces between Emirati men and expat women in 2012, compared with 686 in 2011.
The number of divorces between Emirati women and expat men increased to 133 compared with 132. The divorce rate for expat couples remained relatively static at just over 1,400.
There were 80,578 births in 2012, 38 per cent of children born to Emiratis and 55,479 – about 62 per cent – born to expatriates.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
