On Valentine’s Day, Eurostat republished data regarding marriages and divorces in European countries.

Since 1964 (the first year for which data are available), the gross marriage rate in the EU has declined by more than 50% in relative terms. From 8.0 per 1000 persons in 1964, this indicator decreased to 3.9 in 2021.

The declining trend was interrupted by some periods in 1989 (6.4), 2000 (5.2), 2007 (5.0), and 2018 (4.5).

The observed decline between 2019 (4.3 per 1,000 persons) and 2020 in the gross marriage rate can be interpreted as one of the signs of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the population development of the EU. Subsequently, there was an increase in the gross marriage rate to reach 3.9 in 2021.

While fewer people are getting married, Europeans are divorcing more. During the same period, the gross divorce rate 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 gradually decreasing since then. Part of this increase may be due to the fact that in some EU member states divorce was legalized during this period (for example, in Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Malta).

Albania has the highest marriage rate in Europe

In 2021, the highest marriage rates were in Hungary (7.4 marriages per 1000 persons), Romania, Latvia, and Lithuania (all 6.0). The lowest marriage rates were reported in Slovenia, Portugal (both 2.8 marriages per 1,000 persons), and Luxembourg (3.0).

Eurostat mentions that in candidate countries, the gross marriage rate was generally higher than the EU average.

It ranged from 4.8 marriages per 1000 persons in Serbia to 7.0 in Albania.

Albania ranks second in Europe after Hungary for the high level of marriages; however, data for Kosovo are missing, which is the youngest state with the highest marriage rate in relation to the population.

Many marriages, but also more divorces

According to Eurostat, for divorces, in 2021 the lowest rates in the EU were recorded in Malta (0.6 divorces per 1000 persons) and Slovenia (1.1). In contrast, divorce rates were highest in Lithuania (2.8 divorces per 1,000 persons), Latvia (2.5), and Sweden (2.3).

In 2021, candidate countries had crude divorce rates ranging from 1.0 divorce per 1000 persons in North Macedonia to 1.4 in Serbia.

In Albania, the gross divorce rate was 1.1, with a significant decrease from 2019 when the indicator was 2.1, the highest in the region at that time.