Finland Times

 

Photo Lehtikuva.

The number of marriages in the country has gone down steeply with a total of 25,119 marriages registered in 2013, fewer by 3,759 than that in the previous year, while the number of divorces has increased over the year.

 

The Statistics Finland's data on population changes showed that the decrease in the marriage rate concerned almost without exception all the age groups.

 

One reason for the popularity of getting married in the previous few years has been the exceptional dates like 08.08.08 (8 August 2008) or 12.12.12 (12 December 2012) that made couples time their weddings to these dates. 

 

A majority of the decrease in marriages came from a decline in first marriages. Despite this, the share of first marriages in all marriages has remained almost unchanged at around three-quarters. The relative share has remained at the same level throughout the first decade of the 2000s.

 

Number of marriages and divorces 1965–2012. Source: Statistics Finland

In 2013, the prolonged growth in the average age of both women and men at the time of entering into first marriage ended, as women's average age decreased by 0.2 and men's by 0.3 years from 2012. The average age of women entering into their first marriage was 30.6 years and 32.8 years for men.

 

In 2013, the number of divorces increased while it had decreased in the two previous years. Altogether 13,766 marriages ended in divorce, 766 more than that in the previous year. Viewed by age, the increase in the divorce rate was divided relatively evenly among people under 50.

 

Sixty-eight per cent of the marriages that ended in divorce in 2013 were first marriages for both spouses.

 

In 2013, the number of registered same-sex partnerships was 373. Of them, 126 were male couples and 247 female. A total of 101 registered same-sex partnerships ended in divorce. 

 

 

Changes in marital status and mean age of men and women at first marriage in 2004–2013

	Year
	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013
Contracted marriages	29 342	29 283	28 236	29 497	31 014	29 836	29 952	28 408	28 878	25 119
Divorces	13 234	13 383	13 255	13 224	13 471	13 527	13 619	13 469	13 040	13 766
Woman's mean age at first marriage	29,7	29,6	29,7	29,9	30,2	30,2	30,3	30,6	30,8	30,6
Man's mean age at first marriage	32,1	31,8	32,1	32,3	32,5	32,5	32,6	32,9	33,1	32,8
Registered partnerships	186	200	191	213	249	246	322	333	329	373
Divorces from registered partnerships	15	31	30	67	45	53	64	85	103	101

Source: Population and Cause of Death Statistics. Statistics Finland.