As the world marks Marriage Day, Eurostat data show that Croatia has seen a decline in marriage and divorce rates, while the number of children born out of wedlock is rising, as is the average age at first marriage.

Statistical figures also show that the number of civil marriages is increasing while the number of religious marriages is dropping.

These trends are recorded across the European Union and are present in Croatia as well, said Dubravka Rogic-Hadzalic, head of the Demographic and Social Statistics Department at the Croatian state statistics bureau (DZS).

10 percent fewer marriages in 10 years

In 2021, 18,203 marriages were concluded in Croatia, while five or ten years ago their number was 10 percent higher. Statistics show that 20,323 marriages were concluded in 2012, and 20,310 in 2017.

Observing a longer period of time, a downward trend of marriages is noticeable, with the least, 15,196, recorded during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.

The average age at first marriage is increasing for both brides and grooms. For example, in 1989, the average age of the bride was 23, and the groom was 27, while in 2021 newlyweds were 29 and 32 years old on average.

Over time, the number of religious marriages has gone down, while the number of civil marriages has increased. Nearly one quarter of children are born out of wedlock.

52 percent of couples enter into civil marriage

In 2021, 52 percent of couples entered into a civil marriage, and 48 percent entered into a religious marriage, while in 2012, there were 58 percent of religious and 42 percent of civil marriages.

A total of 8,598 children were born out of wedlock in Croatia in 2021, or 24 percent of the total live births. Eurostat data show that, for example, in France the number of children born to unmarried couples is significantly higher and amounts to 62 percent, in Norway 59 percent, Portugal 58 percent and Slovenia 57 percent.

In 2021, 5,100 marriages ended in a divorce, which is significantly less than in previous years. Thus, in 2016, statistics recorded 7,036 legally divorced marriages.

Rogic-Hadzalic says that the number of divorced marriages is decreasing by the year. The average duration of divorced marriages is 15 years.

Some demographic studies link the risk of divorce with the duration of marriage, so the analysis of a 25-year period showed that the highest risk of divorce is recorded during the fourth and the fifth year of marriage