Over 103,000 Informal Orfi Marriages Legally Verified in 2023

The Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics (CAPMAS) has reported that a total of 103.6 thousand orfi marriage contracts, or informal marriages, were legally verified across Egypt in 2023. The majority of these contracts, approximately 85.2 thousand, occurred in rural areas, while 18.4 thousand were recorded in urban regions.

The Minya Governorate ranked highest in verified orfi marriages with 9,090 contracts, followed by Fayoum, Beheira, Dakahlia and Giza. The least number of verified contracts were reported in the New Valley, Suez and Damietta.

Among those who entered orfi marriages, men with a secondary education formed the largest group, accounting for 44.8%. Postgraduates represented the smallest group, with just 0.3%. Similarly, women with secondary education made up 24.6%, while women with postgraduate degrees constituted only 0.2%.

The majority of orfi marriage contracts were verified for men and women who had never been married before. Additionally, the data showed that nearly 70% of these marriages involved wives aged 18 to under 20, while the highest percentage of men were between 25 and under 30 years old.