Press release 12/09/2008

MARRIAGE STATISTICS (EMAT) of the Basque Country, 1st quarter 2008

Fewer marriages during the first quarter of 2008 than in the same period of the previous year

Over 80% were civil weddings

The number of weddings in the A.C. of the Basque Country for the first quarter of 2008 came to 938, which was 49% lower than those held in the fourth quarter, which totalled 1,825, 15% down on the same quarter of the previous year (1108), according to Eustat data. The first quarter is traditionally noted for the low number of weddings, particularly in January and February.

As was the case in the previous year, the largest proportion of civil weddings (82.3%) occurred in this quarter and was up 7.7 percentage points on the same period of the previous year. There has been an increase in the three provinces with respect to the same quarter of 2007, with rises of 85.5% in Álava, 83.1% in Bizkaia and 80.8% in Gipuzkoa, with the latter being the province that registered the highest percentage increase of nearly 12 points.

905 men and 908 women resident of the A.C. of the Basque Country were married in the 938 weddings held in the first quarter of 2008. This was the first marriage for 792 men (87.5%), while 8 widowers and 105 divorcés remarried. The percentage of women who married for the first time was similar to that for men, as 794 single women (87.4%), 3 widows and 11 divorcées married.

With regard to the distribution of marriages according to the age of spouses, 82.1% of grooms were over 30 years old, while this percentage stood at 72.6% in the case of the brides. These percentages are higher than those for the same period of 2007 (81.5% and 67.9%, respectively), and yet again this quarter, the trend continued for people to be older when they married.

On the other hand, there were 25 weddings between people of the same sex, 2 less than in the same quarter of the previous year, 13 of which were between men and 12 between women.



Graph 1: Monthly movement in marriages

Base 100 = average

Source: EUSTAT

For further information:

Basque Statistics Office C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Tlf:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-mail: eustat@eustat.es Contact: Martín González Hernández Tlf:+34-945-01 75 49 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 More press releases on MARRIAGE STATISTICS of the Basque Country Databank on MARRIAGE STATISTICS of the Basque Country