Press release 21/05/2024
MARRIAGE STATISTICS. IV/2023
Marriages in the Basque Country decreased by 9.1% in the fourth quarter of 2023
In the year as a whole, marriages were down 7.5%
In the fourth quarter of 2023 the figure for marriages in the Basque Country was 1,513, which was an decrease of 9.1% compared to the same quarter of the previous year (1,664 marriages) according to Eustat data. The number of marriages registered fell by 27.6% in Álava (157), 12.7% in Gipuzkoa (489) and 3.1% in Bizkaia (761). Meanwhile, 106 marriages where at least one of the spouses is a Basque Country resident were registered elsewhere (+3.9%).
In the fourth quarter of 2023, of the total number of marriages, 1,462 were different-sex marriages (96.6%) and 51 were between people of the same sex (3.4%); 27 between women and 24 between men. Furthermore, 9 out of 10 weddings were civil (92.8%). This percentage was 91.5% in the same quarter of 2022.
Of the 1,513 marriages in the fourth quarter of 2023, 1,401 men and 1,399 women resident in the Basque Country got married. This was the first marriage for 1,151 wives (82.3%), 7 were widows (0.5%) and 241 were divorcees (17.2%). As regards the husbands, this was the first marriage for 1,166 (83.2%), whilst 10 widowers (0.7%) and 225 divorcees (16.1%) remarried.
With respect to the distribution according to the age of the couple, 86.2% of husbands and 91.3% of wives were over 30. In the same period of 2022, this percentage was 84.6% for women and 92.2% for men.
In the fourth quarter of 2023, 24.7% of recently married women and 20.3% of recently married men were foreign nationals. Compared to the same quarter of the previous year, this percentage has increased by 1.6 percentage points for women and 4.1 for men.
BALANCE FOR 2023
In the provisional data for 2023, the number of marriages for individuals resident in the Basque Country stood at 7,225, which represented a 7.5% decrease in respect of the previous year. Compared to 2019, the number of marriages fell by 3.3%.
The percentage of civil weddings was 90.6%, higher than the 90% in 2022.
In 2023 as a whole, 19.3% of new wives and 14.7% of new husbands were foreign nationals. In 2022 these percentages were 18.2% and 12.4% respectively.
Marriages of residents by territory of registration, type of marriage, form of celebration, previous marital status, age and month of marriage (1). 2023/IV
| | IV/2023 | III/2023 | IV/2022 |
| | NO. | % | NO. | % | increase % | NO. | % | increase % |
| Marriages | 1.513 | 100,0 | 2.335 | 100,0 | -35,2 | 1.664 | 100,0 | -9,1 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Araba / Álava | 157 | 10,4 | 313 | 13,4 | -49,8 | 217 | 13,0 | -27,6 |
| Bizkaia | 761 | 50,3 | 1.016 | 43,5 | -25,1 | 785 | 47,2 | -3,1 |
| Gipuzkoa | 489 | 32,3 | 769 | 32,9 | -36,4 | 560 | 33,7 | -12,7 |
| Outside of the Basque Country | 106 | 7,0 | 237 | 10,1 | -55,3 | 102 | 6,1 | 3,9 |
| Between people of different sex | 1.462 | 96,6 | 2.269 | 97,2 | -35,6 | 1.606 | 96,5 | -9,0 |
| Canonic | 109 | 7,2 | 324 | 13,9 | -66,4 | 141 | 8,5 | -22,7 |
| Civilians | 1.353 | 89,4 | 1.945 | 83,3 | -30,4 | 1.465 | 88,0 | -7,6 |
| Between people of the same sex | 51 | 3,4 | 66 | 2,8 | -22,7 | 58 | 3,5 | -12,1 |
| Between men | 27 | 1,8 | 26 | 1,1 | 3,8 | 20 | 1,2 | 35,0 |
| Between women | 24 | 1,6 | 40 | 1,7 | -40,0 | 38 | 2,3 | -36,8 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Spouses M | 1.401 | 100,0 | 2.066 | 100,0 | -32,2 | 1.533 | 100,0 | -8,6 |
| Single | 1.166 | 83,2 | 1.763 | 85,3 | -33,9 | 1.217 | 79,4 | -4,2 |
| Widowed | 10 | 0,7 | 14 | 0,7 | -28,6 | 10 | 0,7 | 0,0 |
| Divorced | 225 | 16,1 | 289 | 14,0 | -22,1 | 306 | 20,0 | -26,5 |
| < 30 years | 123 | 8,8 | 205 | 9,9 | -40,0 | 120 | 7,8 | 2,5 |
| 30 - 39 years | 578 | 41,3 | 938 | 45,4 | -38,4 | 637 | 41,6 | -9,3 |
| => 40 years | 700 | 50,0 | 923 | 44,7 | -24,2 | 776 | 50,6 | -9,8 |
| Spanish nationality | 1.117 | 79,7 | 1.786 | 86,4 | -37,5 | 1.285 | 83,8 | -13,1 |
| Foreign nationality | 284 | 20,3 | 280 | 13,6 | 1,4 | 248 | 16,2 | 14,5 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Spouses F | 1.399 | 100,0 | 2.090 | 100,0 | -33,1 | 1.567 | 100,0 | -10,7 |
| Single | 1.151 | 82,3 | 1.803 | 86,3 | -36,2 | 1.275 | 81,4 | -9,7 |
| Widowed | 7 | 0,5 | 9 | 0,4 | -22,2 | 8 | 0,5 | -12,5 |
| Divorced | 241 | 17,2 | 278 | 13,3 | -13,3 | 284 | 18,1 | -15,1 |
| < 30 years | 192 | 13,7 | 323 | 15,5 | -40,6 | 240 | 15,3 | -20,0 |
| 30 - 39 years | 626 | 44,7 | 1.019 | 48,8 | -38,6 | 676 | 43,1 | -7,4 |
| => 40 years | 581 | 41,5 | 748 | 35,8 | -22,3 | 651 | 41,5 | -10,8 |
| Spanish nationality | 1.054 | 75,3 | 1.699 | 81,3 | -38,0 | 1.205 | 76,9 | -12,5 |
| Foreign nationality | 345 | 24,7 | 391 | 18,7 | -11,8 | 362 | 23,1 | -4,7 |
| | | | | | | | | |
| Month of marriage | | | | | | | | |
| October | 680 | 44,9 | | | | 813 | 48,9 | -16,4 |
| November | 493 | 32,6 | | | | 500 | 30,0 | -1,4 |
| December | 340 | 22,5 | | | | 351 | 21,1 | -3,1 |
(1)The data for the current and previous quarters are provisional. The variations are over the current quarter
Date May 21, 2024
Source: Eustat Marriage statistics
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