Press Release 10/06/2020

STATISTICS ON MARITAL BREAKDOWNS. 2018

3,351 marriages broke up in the Basque Country in 2018, 5.7% down on the previous year

The majority, 3,231 were direct divorces (without a prior legal separation), there were 116 separations and 4 annulments

In 2018 there were 3,351 marital breakdowns in the Basque Country, a decrease of 5.7% compared to the previous year, according to Eustat data. Of the total number of breakdowns, 15.2% were processed by the courts in Álava, 53.8% in Bizkaia and 30.9% in Gipuzkoa. Marital breakdown is defined as the dissolution of a marriage due to direct annulment, separation or divorce. In other words, marriages that have ended without a prior legal separation.

Of the total number of direct divorces, 2,533 were by mutual consent and 698 were contested, which represented a fall in the latter of 7.8%. As for separations, 88 were by mutual consent and 28 were contested.

In 62.4% of marital breakdowns the request was filed jointly by both spouses, in 23.9% by the wife and only 12.5% by the husband.

36.5% of break ups occurred before the tenth anniversary of the marriage and 27.3% after 20 years. In the case of separations, 59.5% of marriages lasted 15 years or more. The marriages dissolved directly through divorce lasted on average 15 years, a figure that rose to 24 years among those dissolved following a prior legal separation.

36.8% of dissolved marriages had no minor children or dependants of legal age; 52.8% had only minors, 4.7% had only offspring of legal age who were economically dependent and in 5.6% of cases there were both minor and legal age dependants.

In 51.7% of marriages with children, child support was paid by the father, in 6.1% by the mother and in 42.2% by both spouses.

Regarding the custody of minor children, in 49.9% of cases it was granted to the mother, in 7% to the father, and it was shared in 43% of cases.

The total number of divorces in 2018 was 3,596

Regarding divorces, in 2018 there was a total of 3,596, divided into 365 cases where there had been a prior legal separation and 3,231 direct divorces.

3,558 heterosexual couples got divorced as well as 38 homosexual couples, 18 of them male and 20 female.

In reference to heterosexual divorces, the majority took place in the 40-49 age range, in the case of both men and women, comprising 40% and 42.2%, respectively, of the total of divorcees. The average age of women at the time of divorce was 46, whilst for men it was 48.

Regarding the nationality of spouses, 11.1% of men were foreign, and the percentage of foreign wives was similar, at 10.9%.

As for the civil status of the spouses when they entered into the now-dissolved marriage, 91.8% of women were single, slightly below the figure of 92.7% in the case of men.

Most spouses were resident in the Basque Country on the date of the divorce, although 3.9% of men and 2.5% of women resided outside the Basque Country.

In 2018 there were 116 separations and 5 marital annulments

Of the 116 separations that occurred in 2018, 75.9% were by mutual consent and 24.1% were resolved through legal action.

All the separations corresponded to heterosexual couples. In these cases, the average age of women was 50 and the average age of men was 52.

For further information:

Eustat - Euskal Estatistika Erakundea / Basque Statistics Institute C/ Donostia-San Sebastián, 1 01010 Vitoria-Gasteiz Press Service: servicioprensa@eustat.es Tel: 945 01 75 62