Number of marriages, divorces show decline in Turkey

ANKARA - Anatolia News Agency

The greatest increase in the number of marriages was seen in Istanbul at 4.8 percent. The number of marriages in Southeast Anatolia fell 6.0 percent.

Turks across the country ended fewer marriages in the third quarter of 2011, but they also failed to tie the knot as often as in the same period of 2011, according to a Turkish Statistical Institute (TÜİK) report announced yesterday.

The number of marriages in the third quarter of 2012 decreased by 0.5 percent over the same quarter in 2011, falling to 184,206, the report said.

The greatest increase in the number of marriages was seen in Istanbul at 4.8 percent. On the contrary, the number of marriages in Southeast Anatolia fell 6.0 percent.

The mean age for marriage was 26.8 for men and 23.7 for women in the third quarter of 2012.

Istanbul has highest age at marriage

According to the statistical regions, Istanbul had the highest mean age at marriage with 27.8 years for males and 25 for females. The lowest mean age was in Central Anatolia with 25.7 years for men and 22.2 for female counterparts.

The number of divorces in the third quarter of 2012 decreased 2.8 percent, or 25,295 cases, in comparison to the same quarter of the previous year. The greatest decrease in divorces was seen in northeast Anatolia with 12.3 percent, although there was a 14.7 percent rise in the number of divorces in East Anatolia.

Some 38.3 percent of divorces occurred in the first five years of marriage, while 24.8 percent of divorces occurred between couples who had been married for 16 years or more.