Press Release 03/08/2013

MARRIAGE STATISTICS (EMAT) in the Basque Country, 3rd QUARTER 2012

There were 2,571 marriages registered in the third quarter of 2012 in the Basque Country, 9.1% down on the previous year

The number of civil marriages continued to rise compared to the same period of the previous year

In July, August and September 2012 there were 2,571 marriages registered in the Basque Country, a drop of 9.1% with respect to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. Of these, 376 couples fixed their residence in Álava, 825 in Gipuzkoa and 1,302 in Bizkaia. Of the couples who fixed their residency outside the Basque Country, the number of weddings stood at 68.

In the third quarter of 2012, 61.5% of marriages were civil, a percentage 3.7 points higher than that given for the same period of 2011. In turn this proportion was lower than that obtained in the second quarter of 2012, in which 69.1% of weddings were civil.

83.3% of husbands and 69.5% of wives were over the age of 30

As regards the distribution of marriages according to the age of the couples, 83.3% of grooms were over the age of 30, whilst this percentage stood at 69.5% amongst brides. In comparison with the same period of the previous year, this proportion grew for both sexes, with the figures for 2011 being 67.4% for women and 80.9% for men.

Of the 2,571 marriages in the third quarter of 2012, 2,480 men and 2,520 women resident in the Basque Country entered into marriage. For 2,262 husbands (91.2%) this was their first marriage, whilst 18 widowers and 200 divorcees remarried. The percentage of first weddings for women was practically identical to that for men: the number of single women who married stood at 2,293 (91%), 9 widows and 218 divorcees.

7.2% of recently married women were foreign

In relation to the nationality of the couples in the weddings that took place during the summer months in 2012, 4.5% of men and 7.2% of women were not Spanish nationals.

July was the month that saw the most weddings (1,118), followed closely by September with 1,110. On the other hand, August remained the summer month which saw the fewest weddings (343), with the number for this month having dropped 8.8% with respect to the same period of the previous year.



For further information:

Euskal Estatistika-Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística C/ Donostia-San Sebastian, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Tel:+34-945-01 75 00 Fax:+34-945-01 75 01 E-maileustat@eustat.eus Contact: Martín González Hernández Tel:+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