Nearly half of Cambodia’s population is unmarried, divorced, separated or widowed, according to United Nations statistics. The figures, drawn from the UN Population Division’s 2021 dataset, reveal that 44.6% of Cambodians fall into one of these categories, placing the country among the highest in Southeast Asia for single status.

The Philippines tops the regional list with 49% of its population recorded as single, followed closely by Brunei at 44.9% and Malaysia at 44.68%. Cambodia’s 44.6% places it just behind these nations. By contrast, Myanmar reports 29%, Thailand 23% and Indonesia 22%. At the lower end of the scale, Singapore shows 20%, Laos 17%, Vietnam 16% and Timor‑Leste just 13%.

The data highlights striking differences across the region, reflecting how cultural, social and economic factors shape marriage and family life. While some countries show high proportions of singles, others maintain more traditional patterns of marriage and long‑term partnership.

The UN notes that its collection of marital status data, spanning from 1970 to 2021, offers valuable insight into demographic dynamics worldwide. In Southeast Asia, the figures underscore shifting societal trends, from changing attitudes towards marriage to the impact of economic pressures and migration.

For Cambodia, the numbers suggest a significant portion of the population is living outside traditional marital structures, a reality that may influence everything from household composition to social policy.

-2026-01-06

32 minutes ago, geovalin said:

The data highlights striking differences across the region, reflecting how cultural, social and economic factors shape marriage and family life. While some countries show high proportions of singles, others maintain more traditional patterns of marriage and long‑term partnership.

More like a data collection difference,

I'd suggest Cambodia doesn't count village weddings as marriage and Thailand does.

I'm not seeing much in the way of long term partnerships in rural Thailand.

And consider rural Thailand and Cambodia as having much the same culture.

They didn't mention age brackets. Of the overall population, many more are single compared with most other countries simply because Cambodia's population is much younger.