Not since 2006 have so few marriage licenses been signed in Norway as there were last year. The number of divorces, and separations is simultaneously
at a record low.
Certainly, the decline in marriage is hardly so dramatic that it threatens the nuclear family , but the figures from Statistics Norway (SSB) show that in 2016,
there were 201 fewer marriages than there were in 2015.
In all, there were 22,537 couples saying ‘I do’ last year, against 22,738 the year before.
The average figure for divorce over the past five years is the lowest since during the five-year period from 1986 to 1990. The average figures for separations
during the same period has not been lower since 1981 to 1985, according to Statistics Norway.
The preliminary figures for 2016 do not show how many marriages were entered into in the Norwegian Church, or whether they were civil weddings,
but in 2015, the figures were respectively 8,565 and 7,570.
In 2016, 278 couples of the same sex married each other. Figures concluded with 157 marriages between two women, and 121 between two men. Most
same-sex marriage licenses were signed in Oslo and Akershus.
For women who marry women, the number in 2016 was at its lowest since the new marriage law was introduced in 2009, while for men who marry men,
the figure was the highest ever recorded.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today