Statistics Explained

Marriage and divorce statistics


Data extracted in March 2023.

Planned article update: 21 March2024.

Highlights


In 2021, the lowest crude marriage rates within the EU were reported in Slovenia, Portugal (both 2.8 marriages per 1 000 persons), and Luxembourg (3.0).

In 2021, the highest crude marriage rates within the EU were reported in Hungary (7.4 marriages per 1 000 persons), Romania, Latvia and Lithuania (all 6.0).

In 2021, the highest crude divorce rates within the EU were reported in Lithuania (2.8 divorces per 1 000 persons), Latvia (2.5) and Sweden (2.3).

In 2021, births outside marriage outnumbered births inside marriage in 7 EU Member States: France, Portugal, Bulgaria, Slovenia, the Netherlands, Estonia and Denmark.


This article presents developments that have taken place in relation to family formation and dissolution through an analysis of marriage and divorce indicators. Marriage, as recognised by the law of each country, has long been considered as marking the formation of a family unit. However, an analysis of trends in family formation and dissolution based just on marriage and divorce data does not offer a full picture. Legal alternatives to marriage, such as registered partnership, have become more widespread and national legislation has changed to confer greater rights on unmarried couples. Similarly, with divorce being made procedurally easier, it is difficult to produce comparable data.

The number of marriages per 1 000 persons decreased within the EU in recent decades, while the number of divorces increased. However, both of these trends seem to have slowed in recent years. An increase in the proportion of children who are born to unmarried couples was also observed.


Full article

Fewer marriages, fewer divorces

Some 1.7 million marriages and an estimated 0.7 million divorces took place in the EU in 2021, according to the most recent data available for the EU Member States. These figures may be expressed as 3.9 marriages for every 1 000 persons (in other words the crude marriage rate) and 1.7 divorces for every 1 000 persons (in other words the crude divorce rate). The most recent data available for marriages for Cyprus are from 2019; and for divorces 2019 for Cyprus, 2017 for Ireland and Greece, and 2016 for France.

Since 1964 (the first year for which data are available), the crude marriage rate in the EU has declined by more than 50 % in relative terms (from 8.0 per 1 000 persons in 1964 to 3.9 in 2021). The downward trend is interrupted by some intermediate peaks in 1989 (6.4), 2000 (5.2), 2007 (5.0) and 2018 (4.5). The decrease observed between 2019 (4.3 per 1 000 persons) and 2020 in the crude marriage rate could be interpreted as one of the signs of the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the EU population development. After, an increase can be observed in the crude marriage rate to reach 3.9 in 2021. At the same time, the crude divorce rate has essentially doubled, increasing from 0.8 per 1 000 persons in 1964 to 1.7 in 2021. The divorce rate peaked in 2006 (2.1) and has been decreasing slightly since then. Part of this increase may be due to the fact that in several EU Member States divorce was legalised during this period (for example, in Italy, Spain, Ireland and Malta).

Line chart showing crude marriage and divorce rates in the EU per one thousand persons. Two lines represent and compare the crude marriage rate with the crude divorce rate over the years 1964 to 2021.
Figure 1: Crude marriage and divorce rates, 1964–2021
(per 1 000 persons)
Source: Eurostat (demo_nind) and (demo_ndivind)

Table 1 shows that in 2021, the highest crude marriage rates were in Hungary (7.4 marriages per 1000 persons), Romania, Latvia and Lithuania (all 6.0). The lowest crude marriage rates were reported in Slovenia, Portugal (both 2.8 marriages per 1 000 persons) and Luxembourg (3.0). In the candidate countries, the crude marriage rate was generally higher than the EU average. It ranged between 4.8 marriages per 1 000 persons in Serbia and 7.0 in Albania.

Table showing the crude marriage rate per one thousand persons for the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries and some candidate countries for selected years between 1964 and 2021.
Table 1: Crude marriage rate, selected years, 1964–2021
(per 1 000 persons)
Source: Eurostat (demo_nind)

For divorce (see Table 2), in 2021 the lowest crude rates in the EU were registered in Malta (0.6 divorces per 1 000 persons) and Slovenia (1.1). By contrast, divorce rates were highest in Lithuania (2.8 divorces per 1 000 persons), Latvia (2.5) and Sweden (2.3). In 2021 the candidate countries had crude divorce rates ranging between 1.0 divorce per 1 000 persons in North Macedonia and 1.4 in Serbia.

Table showing the crude divorce rate per one thousand persons for the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries and some candidate countries for selected years between 1964 and 2021.
Table 2: Crude divorce rate, selected years, 1960–2021
(per 1 000 persons)
Source: Eurostat (demo_ndivind)

A rise in births outside marriage

The proportion of live births outside marriage has shown an increasing trend in the past decades, almost doubling since 1993 (17.7 %) when this data was first available in the EU. In 2021 this proportion was estimated at 41.8 % (see Table 3) which means that 58.2 % of children were born inside marriage. This share confirms the changes in patterns of family formation alongside the more traditional pattern where children were born within marriage. Extramarital births occur in non-marital relationships, among cohabiting couples and to lone parents.

Extramarital births outnumbered births inside marriage in several EU Member States, notably France (where 63.5 % of births occurred outside marriage), Portugal (60.0 %), Bulgaria (59.9 %), Slovenia (57.7 %), the Netherlands (55.6 %), Estonia (54.7 %) and Denmark (54.7 %). Greece was at the other end of the spectrum where more than 83 % of births occurred within marriage.

Table showing live births outside marriage as a share of total live births in percentages for the EU, individual EU Member States, EFTA countries and some candidate countries for selected years between 1960 and 2021.
Table 3: Live births outside marriage, selected years, 1960-2021
(share of total live births, %)
Source: Eurostat (demo_find)

Looking at the latest available data, extramarital births increased in 16 of the available EU Member States in 2021 compared with 2020. However, in some countries the opposite trend can be seen: for example Hungary shows a decrease in the proportion of extramarital births in the latest years. The proportion of extramarital births increased in 2021 compared with 2020 in North Macedonia and Serbia.

Source data for tables and graphs

Data sources

Eurostat compiles information on a wide range of demographic data, including data on the number of marriages by sex and previous marital status and statistics relating to the number of divorces. Data on the number of live births according to the mother’s marital status may be used to produce an indicator that shows the proportion of births outside marriage. The most recent data available for Belgium is 2018, for Cyprus 2019, for Malta 2017 and for Sweden 2020.

Context

The family unit is a changing concept: what it means to be a member of a family and the expectations people have of family relationships vary with time, making it difficult to find a universally agreed and applied definition. Legal alternatives to marriage, like registered partnerships, have become more widespread and national legislation has changed to confer more rights on unmarried and same sex couples. Alongside these legal forms, other forms of non-marital relationships have appeared, making it more difficult for statisticians to collect data within this domain that can be compared across countries.

Due to differences in the timing and formal recognition of changing patterns of family formation and dissolution, these concepts have become more difficult to measure in practice. Analysts of demographic statistics therefore have access to relatively few complete and reliable data sets with which to make comparisons over time and between or within countries.

The EU has been going through a period of demographic and societal change. The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, in 2020, will have a lasting impact on the way we live and work together. The outbreak came at a time when Europe had already been going through a period of profound demographic and societal change. On 17 January 2023, the European Commission published the Staff Working Document on The impact of demographic change in a changing environment which provides further analysis of the demographic consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic. More information of the work of the European Commission 2019-2024 to tackle the impact of demographic change in Europe can be found in the European Commission dedicated pages.

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Main tables

Marriage and divorce (t_demo_nup), see:
Crude marriage rate (tps00206)
Crude divorce rate (tps00216)
Mean age at first marriage by sex (tps00014)

Database

Marriages (demo_nup)
Divorces (demo_div)

Methodology