Jakarta – The divorce rate in Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, has surged in a decade often driven by a clash of religious and political beliefs between partners, a newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Data from the Religious Affairs ministry showed the number of divorces had increased 10-fold since the end of the authoritarian rule of President Suharto in 1998 and a new era of democratic reforms, the Jakarta Post reported.

The divorce rate jumped from an average of 20,000 a year to more than 200,000 a year over the decade, the Director General for Islamic guidance at the Religious Affairs Ministry, Nasaruddin Umar, told the paper. Umar said about 2 million Indonesian couples were married every year.

Polygamy, which is not uncommon in Indonesia, was by far the most frequent reason cited for divorce but political differences were also driving more couples apart than ever, Umar said.

Indonesia allows polygamy, but according to the marriage law, a man can only get court approval to take a second wife if his first wife agrees, or if she is disabled or cannot have children.

"Believe it or not, some couples decide to divorce because the husband and wife have different takes on political issues. This has never happened before," said Umar.

In 2005, 105 couples cited political differences as the cause of their split but this figure jumped to 502 couples in 2006. Figures for 2007 and 2008 were yet to be calculated.

The official said 90 per cent of marriages between people of different religions ended in divorce. Indonesia is predominantly Muslim, although also has sizeable Christian, Hindu and Buddhist communities.

Data from 2006 showed that 879 couples cited polygamy as the reason for divorce.

Umar was quoted by the paper as saying the rising divorce rate was "probably because women now have a greater awareness of women's rights."

[Reporting by Sunanda Creagh; Editing by Ed Davies and David Fox.]