Traditionally the first quarter of the year is characterised
by a low number of marriages held, above all, in January and February. The number
of marriages in the A.C. of the Basque Country came to 968, which represents
half the 1,936 weddings held in the fourth quarter of 2001 and 125 fewer than
the same quarter of 2001 (-11.4%), according to Eustat data.
As in previous years, this quarter shows the highest number of civil weddings, higher in number than religious weddings, which appears to consolidate this fact. By Provinces, more civil weddings were held in Alava (64%), followed by Bizkaia and Gipuzkoa (58%). On the other hand, in the case of residents from outside the Autonomous Community who married here, this percentage fell to 48%.
In the 968 weddings held in the first quarter of 2002, 927 men and 957 women resident in the A.C. of the Basque Country married. For 840 husbands (90.6%) this was their first marriage, while 7 widows and 80 divorcés remarried. The percentage of women who married for the first time was slightly lower than that of men: 861 single women married, as did 9 widows and 87 divorcées.
In the distribution of marriages according to the age of spouses 71% of husbands were aged over 30, while among wives this percentage came to 55.9%. these proportions are higher than those of the same quarter the year before (69.5% and 52.5%, respectively) and, at the same time are higher than in other quarters in the year 2001.