Fewer marriages, more divorces in Turkey in 2018

ANKARA

The number of couples who got married in Turkey decreased by 2.9 percent in 2018 compared to the previous year, while the number of those who divorced increased by 10.9 percent since 2017, according to data released by the Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) on March 1. 

The number of couples who got married last year was 553,202, TÜİK said, while revealing the number of couples who divorced as 142,448 in the same year.

The province with the highest crude marriage rate - the number of marriages per 1,000 people of its population - was the southeastern province of Kilis, with an average of 8.55 per 1,000 in 2018. Kilis was followed by the southeastern province of Adıyaman with 8.29 per 1,000 and the Central Anatolian province of Aksaray with 8.05 per 1,000.

The province with the lowest crude marriage rate was the Black Sea province of Gümüşhane with 4.43 per 1,000. Gümüşhane was followed by two other Black Sea provinces: Bayburt with 4.91 per 1,000 and Kastamonu with 5.13 per 1,000.

The province with the highest crude divorce rate was the Aegean province of İzmir with 2.79 per 1,000 in 2018. İzmir was followed by the Aegean province of Muğla with 2.77 per 1,000 and the Mediterranean province of Antalya with 2.69 per 1,000.

The province with the lowest crude divorce rate was the southeastern province of Hakkari, with an average of 0.16 per 1,000 people parting ways. Hakkari was followed by two other southeastern provinces: Şırnak with 0.28 per 1,000 and Siirt with 0.31 per 1,000.
Mean age at first marriage was 27.8 for males and 24.8 for females in 2018.

Age difference at first marriage between male and female was 3 years. The province having the highest mean age difference at first marriage was the northeastern province of Kars with 4.5 years. The province having the lowest mean age difference at first marriage was Kastamonu with 2.3 years.

The number of foreign brides was 22,743 in 2018, making up 4.1 percent of the total number of brides in the country. Syrian women topped the list, accounting for about 15.7 percent of all marriages in the country, followed by Azerbaijani brides with 13.9 percent and German brides with 10.9 percent.

The number of foreign grooms was 4,119 in 2018 and it accounted for 0.7 percent of the total number of grooms.

When analyzed by citizenship, German grooms took first place, accounting for 34.1 percent of the overall figure. German grooms were followed by Syrian grooms with 13.1 percent and Austrian grooms with 7.8 percent.

In 2018, 37.6 percent of divorces occurred in the first five years of marriage and 20.4 percent of divorces occurred in the marriages with the duration of 6-10 years.