More Cypriots are getting divorced, living longer, still prefer a church wedding while choosing to have children at a later stage, according to the latest demographic report.
The Republic of Cyprus’ population increased by 1.4% in 2019 to 888,000 up from 875,900 the year before.
Cyprus’ population is ageing with the number of children under 15 gradually declining while those aged above 65 has increased, whereas the total fertility rate since the 1982 peak remains below the 2.10 replacement level.
The proportion of children below 15 years old is estimated at 16% while the proportion of people aged 65 and over increased to 16.3% in 2019, compared to 22.3% and 11.3% respectively in 2000.
“There was a gradual increase in the proportion of old-aged persons and a decrease in the proportion of children, demonstrating the ageing process of the population,” Cystat said.
During 2019, the number of births increased to 9,548 from 9,329 the year before, giving a crude birth rate of 10.8 per 1,000 population.
The total fertility rate for 2019 was estimated at 1.33, remaining at the same level as in the previous year.
However, the total fertility rate decreased gradually over the years, from its peak of 2.50 in 1982, since 1995, the total fertility rate remains below the replacement level of 2.10.
The mean age of women having their first child was 29.6 years while the mean age of giving birth was 31.2 years in 2019.
Deaths reached 6,239 from 5,768 in 2018, with the crude death rate increasing to 7.1 deaths per 1,000 population from 6.6 in 2018.
Life expectancy was estimated at 80.1 years for men and 84.2 years for women, up from 80.7 and 84.6 respectively.
Infant mortality remains very low, estimated at 2.6 infant deaths per 1,000 live births.
Cyprus registered continued net migration after the financial crisis between 2012 – 2015 saw it in negative territory.
Marriages and divorces
The total number of marriages increased to 14,854 from 13,783 the year before.
Church marriages increased from 3,918 in 2018 to 4,173 in 2019, civil marriages also increased from 9,865 in 2018 to 10,681.
If you take away civil marriages by foreign couples not residing in Cyprus, the figure is a much lower 3,673.
Leaving the total number of marriages by Cyprus residents at 7,846.
Divorces in 2019 increased to 2,308, from 2,114 in 2018, with the crude divorce rate calculated at 2.62 per 1,000 population from 2.43.
The total divorce rate, which shows the proportion of marriages that are expected to end up in divorce, rose to 361.7 per 1,000 marriages in 2019, from 41.6 per 1,000 marriages in 1980.
