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Read Full BioIndonesian courts say online gambling addiction is continuing to drive up divorce rates, causing hundreds of married couples to part ways this year.
Online gambling is illegal in Indonesia, and family law courts allow married couples to use a partner’s web-based betting habits as legal grounds for divorce. This has led to a large spike in divorce rates in several parts of the country. Courts in some areas claim online gambling has become a “leading cause of marriage breakups.”
The Indonesian news outlet Faktual reported that online gambling has “triggered a divorce surge” in Kendari, the capital of the Southeast Sulawesi province.
The Kendari Religious Court, which deals with family law cases in the city, said “more than 300 divorce cases were specifically triggered by one party’s addiction to online gambling” in 2025.
This year, the court has processed 1,118 divorces, a rise from 2024’s total of 1,062. In many cases, the parties seem reluctant to admit that online gambling is their main reason for divorce. But the court said that its investigations had unveiled a prevalence of gambling-related problems underlying many disputes.
Online Gambling: Indonesian Divorce Rate Catalyst?
“Many couples said ‘unresolvable disputes’ were their main reason for divorce,” a Kendari Religious Court executive said. “However, after mediation, we discovered that online gambling was often the initial source of the conflict. We heard many complaints on this matter directly from the parties involved.”
The executive said that online gambling habits “destroy the foundations of families’ finances.”
“Income that should be used for basic needs is instead spent on online gambling,” said the official. “This often sparks heated arguments.”
The court called on the government and law enforcement officials to act. “The government must take decisive action to limit or stop the rise of online gambling through preventative measures and enforcement,” an official said.
Nationwide Phenomenon
A similar picture is emerging elsewhere in the country. The Indonesian media outlet Berita Cikarang reported that 5,496 married couples in the city of Cikarang and the wider Bekasi Regency filed for divorce in 2025. Again, religious courts pointed the finger at online gambling.
The media outlet Koran-Pikiran Rayat reported couples in the region are now divorcing at a rate of 15 a day. And it wrote that the “majority” of cases in the regency were “due to gambling.”
“The primary causes of divorce in Bekasi Regency are still economic issues and domestic disputes,” a Cikarang Religious Court official said. “But the court has noted the emergence of a new trend that is contributing to divorce: namely, online gambling.”
