Marriage more popular in Hungary

The statistical office of the European Union came recently with new statistics on marriage in the European Union. According to Eurostat, the EU countries with the highest percentage of marriages were Cyprus (8.9 marriages per 1,000 persons), Lithuania (7.0), Latvia and Hungary (both 6.7), and Romania (6.6). These were followed by Slovakia (5.4), Denmark and Malta (5.3).

Compared to only 5.2 weddings per 1,000 people in 2018, Hungary also registered the most significant year-on-year increase. Eurostat’s data seems to confirm previous figures released by the Hungarian statistical office, pointing to a 20 per cent increase in marriage in the first nine months of 2019 alone.

This surge of marriages in Hungary has largely been attributed to the introduction of strong financial incentives by the government, to encourage people to get married and have more children.

In contrast, the lowest marriage rates were around 3 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, which were reported in Italy (3.1), Portugal and Slovenia (both 3.2), followed by France, Spain, Luxembourg (all 3.5).

Contrary

In 2019, among EU Member States, the lowest number of divorces relative to the population was registered in Malta and Ireland (0.7 divorces per 1,000 persons), followed by Slovenia (1.2), Italy (1.4) and Croatia (1.5).

On the contrary, the highest divorce rates were recorded in Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg, with 3.1 divorces per 1,000 persons.

According to Eurostat, these statistics confirm the long-term trend in the European Union that the number of marriages is decreasing, while the number of divorces is increasing. Since 1964, the marriage rate in the EU has declined from 8.0 per 1,000 persons in 1964 to 4.3 in 2019. At the same time, the divorce rate has more than doubled, increasing from 0.8 per 1,000 persons in 1964 to 1.8 in 2019.