Press Release 14/09/2015
There were 864 marriages registered in the first quarter of 2015, 7.4% down on the previous year
The proportion of civil marriages stood at 93%
The number of marriages in the Basque Country during the first quarter of 2015 rose to 864, 7.4% down on those in the same quarter of the previous year (933), according to Eustat data. The first month of the year is characterised by the low number of marriages celebrated, particularly in January and February.
As has occurred in previous years, this quarter has seen a high proportion of civil marriages, 92.8%, a figure identical to that for the same period of the previous year. The province with the highest proportion of civil marriages was Álava, with 96%, and that with the lowest was Gipuzkoa, with 90.9%; in Bizkaia the percentage was 94%.
In the 864 weddings in the first quarter of 2015, 831 men and 843 women resident in the Basque Country entered into marriage; the remainder of the spouses resided outside of the Basque Country. For 710 spouses (85.4%) this was their first marriage, whilst 9 widowers and 112 divorcees remarried. The percentage of women entering into their first marriage was slightly lower than that for men, standing at 698 (82.8%); the number of widows rose to 7 and the number of divorcees stood at 138.
As regards the distribution of marriages according to the age of the couples, 89.8% of husbands were above the age of 30, whilst this percentage stood at 83% for wives. For both sexes there was a rise in the percentage of over-30s compared with the same period of the previous year, a quarter in which these percentages stood at 88.5% for men and 82.3% for women.
In the first quarter of 2015, 16.3% of recently married women and 11% of recently married men were foreign nationals. In both cases, this percentage has decreased compared with the same period of 2014 (-0.8 points and -1.7 points, respectively).
On the other hand, 26 unions were celebrated between partners of the same sex, a figure above the 17 registered in the same quarter of the previous year; of these, 21 were between women and 5 between men.
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