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Cyprus celebrates most marriages in the EU

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The long-term trend in the European Union shows marriage is in decline, although Cyprus, as the island of love, is the one country bucking that trend while divorces are rising.

Since 1964, the marriage rate in the EU has declined from 8.0 per 1,000 persons in 1964 to 4.3 in 2019, while the number of divorces is increasing, according to data released by Eurostat.

At the same time, the divorce rate has more than doubled, increasing from 0.8 per 1,000 persons in 1964 to 1.8 in 2019.

EU countries with the highest number of marriages relative to the population were Cyprus (8.9 marriages per 1,000 population), Lithuania (7.0), Latvia and Hungary (both 6.7), and Romania (6.6).

These states were followed by Slovakia (5.4), Denmark and Malta (5.3).

In contrast, the lowest marriage rates were around 3 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, which were reported in Italy (3.1), Portugal and Slovenia (both 3.2), followed by France, Spain, Luxembourg (all 3.5)

Among the EU Member States, the lowest number of divorces relative to the population was registered in Malta and Ireland (0.7 divorces per 1,000 persons), followed by Slovenia (1.2), Italy (1.4) and Croatia (1.5).

By contrast, the highest divorce rates were recorded in Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg (all 3.1 divorces per 1,000 persons), Cyprus (2.6) and Sweden (2.5).