Press Release 07/03/2016

MARRIAGE STATISTICS, III/2015

There were 2,431 marriages registered in the third quarter of 2015 in the Basque Country, 2.4% down on the previous year

The percentage of civil marriages was 71.5%, 2.2 percentage points more than in the same quarter of the previous year

In July, August and September 2015 there were 2,431 marriages registered in the Basque Country, a drop of 2.4% with respect to the same quarter of the previous year, according to Eustat data. Of these, 410 couples fixed their residence in Álava, 786 in Gipuzkoa and 1,174 in Bizkaia. The number of couples who fixed their residence outside of the Basque Country stood at 61.

In the third quarter of 2015, civil marriages accounted for 71.5% of the total, a percentage 2.2 points higher than that given for the same period of 2014. In turn, this proportion was lower than that registered in the second quarter of 2015, when it stood at 82.7%.

88% of husbands and 77% of wives were aged 30 or over

As regards the distribution of marriages according to the age of the couples, 87.9% of grooms were aged 30 or over, whilst this percentage fell to 76.7% amongst brides. Compared to the same period of the previous year, the proportion increased for both sexes, since it was 85.8% in 2014 for husbands and 71.7% for wives.

Of the 2,431 marriages in the third quarter of 2015, 2,369 men and 2,378 women resident in the Basque Country entered into marriage. For 2,150 spouses (90.8%) this was their first marriage, whilst 13 widowers and 206 divorcees remarried. The percentage of first weddings for women was identical to that for men: the number of single women who married stood at 2,160 (90.8%), while there were 8 widows and 210 divorcees.

Foreigners accounted for 8.5% of newly married women

In relation to the nationality of the couples in the weddings held during the summer months in 2015, 5.6% of men and 8.5% of women held foreign nationality.

July was the month that saw the most weddings (1,053), followed by September with 966. On the other hand, August remained the summer month which saw the fewest weddings (412). In fact, the number for this month decreased 7.4% with respect to the same period of the previous year.

Furthermore, 34 marriages between individuals of the same sex took place, a figure lower than the 38 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