Saudi women increasingly choosing to stay spinsters

Riyadh, Aug 15 : One out of every 16 Saudi Arabian women is classified as a spinster, according to a demographic survey conducted in 2007.

Conducted by the Finance and Planning Ministry's Central Department of Statistics and Information, the document reveals that spinsterhood in Saudi Arabia was pegged at 2.6 per cent last year.

The kingdom's population reached 23,980,843 last year and females constitute 45.5 per cent of the population.

According to The Gulf News, the number of spinsters in Saudi Arabia reached 180,413. The survey classified spinsters as women who have reached the age of 30 or above without getting married.

A majority of Saudi women, 97.4 per cent, married below the age of 30 years while only 2.6 per cent married at the age of 30 or above.

The survey also revealed that there are 102 Saudi males for every 100 females, which is within the normal range.

However, in case of non-Saudis living in Saudi Arabia, for every 100 females there are 223 males.

ANI