Press Release 06/03/2015

MARRIAGE STATISTICS, III/2014

There were 2,469 marriages registered in the third quarter of 2014 in the Basque Country, 2% down on the previous year

The percentage of civil marriages was 69%, one percentage point more than in the same quarter of the previous year

In July, August and September 2014 there were 2,469 marriages registered in the Basque Country, a drop of 2% with respect to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. Of these, 412 couples fixed their residence in Álava, 792 in Gipuzkoa and 1,200 in Bizkaia. The number of couples who fixed their residence outside of the Basque Country stood at 65.

In the third quarter of 2014, civil marriages accounted for 69.4% of the total, a percentage 1.3 points higher than that given for the same period of 2013. In turn, this proportion was lower than that registered in the second quarter of 2014, when it stood at 77.2%.

86% of husbands and 72% of wives were aged 30 or over

As regards the distribution of marriages according to the age of the couples, 85.9% of grooms were aged 30 or over, whilst this percentage fell to 71.9% amongst brides. In comparison with the same period of the previous year, this proportion grew only for men, as in 2013 the figure was 84% for men compared to 72.4% for women.

Of the 2,469 marriages in the third quarter of 2014, 2,381 men and 2,415 women resident in the Basque Country entered into marriage. For 2,156 spouses (90.6%) this was their first marriage, whilst 13 widowers and 212 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 2,203 (91.2%), 10 widows and 202 divorcees.

Foreigners accounted for 8% of newly married women

In relation to the nationality of the couples in the weddings held during the summer months in 2014, 6% of men and 8.1% of women held foreign nationality.

July was the month that saw the most weddings (1,069), followed by September with 956. August also remained the summer month which saw the fewest weddings (444), even though the number for this month increased 5.7% with respect to the same period of the previous year.

Furthermore, 45 marriages between individuals of the same sex were celebrated, a figure that exceeds the 36 registered the previous year.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Instituto Vasco de Estadística C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.eus Tlf: 945 01 75 62 More press releases on marriage statistics of the Basque Country Databank on marriage statistics of the Basque Country