Press release 04/12/2009
MARRIAGE STATISTICS (EMAT), 2nd quarter 2009
The percentage of civil weddings increased in the second quarter of 2009 with respect to the same quarter of the previous year
2,296 weddings were held in April, May and June 2009, 24.3% down on the previous year.
In the second quarter of 2009, 59.4% of weddings were civil weddings, 6 percentage points up on the same quarter of 2008, according to Eustat data. This figure was down on the first quarter of 2009, where nearly 81% of the marriages were civil. In this second quarter, the number of weddings in May and June increased considerably, in contrast to the previous quarter, which was noted for the low number of weddings held.
In April, May and June 2009, there were 2,296 weddings in the Basque Country, which was 24.3% down on the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. By provinces, 1,172 weddings were held in Bizkaia, followed by Gipuzkoa with 822 and Álava with 235. On the other hand, 67 couples set up home outside the Basque Country.
2,227 men and 2,234 women resident in the Basque Country married in the 2,296 weddings in the second quarter of 2009. This was the first marriage for 2.037 men (91.5%), while 16 widowers and 174 divorcés remarried. The percentage of first marriages for women was similar to that of the men: the number of single brides came to 2,036 (91.1%), there were 9 widows and 189 divorcées.
The trend continues for people to be older when they marry
With regard to the distribution of marriages according to the age of spouses, 79.4% of grooms were over 30 years old, while this percentage stood at 68.5% in the case of the brides. These percentages are higher than those for the same period of 2008 (75.3% and 61.3%, respectively), and yet again this quarter, the trend continued for people to be older when they marry.
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
Online press releases: www.eustat.es