Divorces in Russia have reached a seven-year high so far in 2021 with the country’s conservative, Muslim-majority regions unexpectedly seeing the biggest increases, the MBKh Media news website reported Wednesday.
The 251,000 divorces filed between January-May accounted for a 44% increase over the same period in 2020, the outlet said, citing the FinExpertiza consultancy.
The republic of Ingushetia experienced the highest rise in divorces, growing 3.5-fold and totaling 383, according to MBKh Media.
The neighboring republic of Chechnya ranked second with 2.7-fold growth and 900 divorces, followed by the republic of Dagestan’s 2.1-fold growth and 2,500 divorces in January-May.
Another North Caucasus republic, Karachayevo-Cherkessia, doubled its divorce numbers to 750.
Moscow, whose 20,400 divorces so far this year represented a 63% surge, ranked 15th out of 85 Russian regions in the number of divorces. According to MBKh Media, the gap between marriages and divorces there shrank from 31% to 6%.
The five regions recording the lowest divorce rates ranged from the western exclave of Kaliningrad and the Belgorod region on the Ukrainian border to south-central Russia’s Voronezh region, northern Russia’s Nenets autonomous district and east Siberia’s republic of Khakassia.
