Nearly 160,000 marriages ended through the courts in Morocco in 2025, meaning judges ruled on about 438 marital dissolution cases every day, or one every three and a half minutes. The Supreme Council of the Judicial Power (CSPJ) recorded 159,815 cases in which a judgment was issued last year, up from 150,263 in 2024 and about 120,000 in 2013.
The council’s 2025 annual report, published in the Official Gazette, also showed that 154,377 new marital dissolution cases were registered last year, an increase of 6,482 from the 147,895 recorded in 2024.
The number of ongoing cases rose from 178,290 in 2024 to 182,224 in 2025, an increase of 3,934.
Judicial divorce, known as Tatliq, accounted for 112,911 cases in 2025, up from 107,681 the previous year.
Most involved Shiqaq, the legal route used when a couple cannot resolve their differences. Courts recorded 110,454 such cases, accounting for 97.82% of all judicial divorces.
The remaining cases included 1,406 divorces in a general or unspecified category, 531 linked to a spouse’s absence, 456 involving harm, and 20 related to a failure to provide financial maintenance.
Courts also recorded 32 divorces involving a defect, 11 linked to vows of abstinence or abandonment, known as Ilaa and Hajr, and one case in which a husband breached a condition of the marriage contract.
Standard divorce, known as Talaq, followed a different pattern. Mutual consent accounted for 40,211 cases in 2025, representing 96.97% of this category.
The other cases included 1,173 divorces before the marriage was consummated, 48 revocable divorces, 33 Khula cases, in which a wife seeks a divorce in exchange for financial compensation, and one case of delegated divorce, known as Tamleek.
The figures show that courts issued judgments in more cases than the number of new cases registered during 2025, although the total number of ongoing cases continued to rise.
The clearance rate, which compares the number of cases adjudicated with the number newly registered, reached 103.52% in 2025, up from 101.60% in 2024. That was an increase of 1.92 percentage points.
The ratio of adjudicated cases to all ongoing cases also improved, rising from 84.28% in 2024 to 87.70% in 2025, an increase of 3.42 percentage points.
The number of cases receiving a judgment increased by 9,552 in a year, while newly registered cases rose by 6,482 and ongoing cases increased by 3,934.
The figures come as Morocco reviews its 2004 Family Code, known as the Moudawana, which governs marriage, divorce and family relations.
King Mohammed VI called for a comprehensive review of the code in 2023. Consultations involving legal professionals, religious scholars and civil society groups followed in 2024.
The debate has focused on several issues affecting families after divorce, including the enforcement of child support payments, custody rules when mothers remarry, and the division of assets acquired during marriage.
The widespread use of Shiqaq has also drawn attention to how couples navigate the legal system. The expanded report notes that proving harm, such as domestic abuse, can be difficult when evidence or witnesses are unavailable. In 2025, courts recorded 456 divorces on grounds of harm, compared with 110,454 based on irreconcilable differences.
