Fewer got married and more were divorced last year

MarriedMarried.Photo:pixabay.com

In total, 22,100 couples were married in Norway last year.This is 400 fewer couples than the previous year.

 

Since the 2008 peak year, when 25,100 couples got married,the trend has fallen even though the population of those of marriageable age increased.

In 2008, the population in the country of those between 20 and 45 years old was a total of 1.68 million people. Last year, the number had increased to 1.85 million.

But there is something going on. The average age for men is 34.9 years, and women are now 32.3 years old when they marry for the first time. That is an increase of 0.3 years for men and 0.4 years for women in just one year, figures released from Statistics Norway (SSB) showed on Friday.

A total of 9,800 couples divorced last year, which was an increase of 500 couples over the previous year, but the general trend is that there are fewer divorces.

Since 2012, the number of divorces in Norway has been below 10,000 each year. That is a lower level than in the period between 2000 to 2011,when the average was 10,500 divorces annually.

About 1.5% of marriages last year were entered into by persons of the same sex, a total of 333 marriages, which is the highest since the new marriage act was passed in 2009. More than 64% of these marriages were entered into between two women.

 

© NTB scanpix / #Norway Today