Morocco recorded 154,377 divorce and judicial separation cases in 2025, an increase of 4.38% from the previous year, according to the Supreme Council of the Judicial Power’s 2025 annual report, recently published in the country’s Official Gazette.
The figures show that consensual divorce and judicial separation on grounds of marital discord continued to account for the overwhelming majority of cases over the past three years.
The number of registered cases fell slightly in 2024, declining from 151,168 in 2023 to 147,895, a decrease of 2.17%. In 2025, however, the total rose by 6,482 cases, or 4.38%, to reach 154,377.
Morocco’s Family Code distinguishes between divorce and judicial separation. Article 78 defines divorce as the dissolution of the marital bond by either spouse, subject to the applicable legal conditions and judicial oversight. The court must authorize the formalization of a divorce before it can be officially documented.
Judicial separation, meanwhile, refers to the dissolution of a marriage by a court ruling at the request of either spouse, based on the grounds specified in the Family Code.
Divorce and judicial separation cases rise
The report recorded a slight increase in divorce cases in 2024, from 40,028 in 2023 to 40,212, a rise of 0.46%. The number increased by a further 1,252 cases in 2025 compared with the previous year.
Judicial separation cases followed a different trajectory. They fell from 111,140 in 2023 to 107,681 in 2024, a decline of 3.11%, before rising to 112,911 in 2025, an increase of 5,230 cases, or 4.86%, year on year.
Consensual divorce accounts for nearly 97% of divorce cases
Consensual divorce remained the dominant form of divorce throughout the three-year period, accounting for nearly 97% of all registered divorce cases, according to the report.
The number of consensual divorce cases stood at 38,783 in 2023, representing 96.89% of all divorce cases. It rose to 38,858 in 2024, or 96.63%, before reaching 40,211 in 2025, equivalent to 96.97%.
Divorce before consummation ranked second, although it accounted for a much smaller share of cases. There were 1,078 such cases in 2023, or 2.69% of the total, rising to 1,217 in 2024, or 3.03%, before falling slightly to 1,173 in 2025, or 2.83%.
Cases involving revocable divorce, divorce by khul‘ (a form of divorce initiated by the wife, generally involving compensation), and tamlik divorce each remained below 100 cases. Combined, these categories accounted for 0.3% of registered divorce cases over the three years.
The Supreme Council of the Judicial Power said the figures reflect a shift in how Moroccan couples end their marriages, with consensual divorce emerging as the most common route. The council attributed its prevalence in part to procedural flexibility and agreement between spouses, which can help limit conflict and reduce the social and psychological consequences of separation, particularly for children.
Judicial separation on grounds of marital discord dominates
Judicial separation on grounds of marital discord, known in Morocco as shiqaq, accounted for the vast majority of judicial separation cases during the three-year period.
The report recorded 107,679 shiqaq cases in 2023, representing 96.89% of all judicial separation cases. The figure fell to 104,898 in 2024, or 97.42%, before rising to 110,454 in 2025, accounting for 97.82% of the total.
Other grounds for judicial separation—including harm, a spouse’s absence, failure to provide financial support, physical defects, ila (a form of marital abstention), abandonment, and a husband’s breach of a contractual condition—accounted for less than 2% of cases combined, the report said.
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