The report provides information on marriages and divorces for 2001. It was found that in 2001 there was a decrease of 6.1% compared with 2000:

• Of the officially recorded marriages in 2001, 52% were solemnized under civill and 34% through religious ceremonies. In Gauteng out of 11 municipalities 6 contributed 93%, Western Cape out of 26, 2 contributed 84%, KwaZulu-Natal out of 35, 2 contributed 66%, Limpopo out of 22, 2 contributed 65%, Eastern Cape, out of 40, 3 contributed 66%, Free State out of 20, 3 contributed 71%, North West out of 18, 3 contributed 48% Northern Cape, out of 17, 1 contributed 57%, Mpumalanga, out of 18, 1 contributed 34%.
• The modified divorce rate for whites was 1 420 per 100 000 married couples, followed by Indians/Asians (715 per 100 000 married couples) and coloureds (799 per 100 000 married couples). The modified divorce rate for Africans was 198 per 100 000 married couples. For the total population, about 22% of the divorces occurred in marriages of less than 5 years duration, and 28% among those of between 5 and 9 years. For Africans, number of divorces peaks for marriages of 5-9 years duration and declines with increasing duration of marriage. Among whites and coloureds majority of divorces occurred among individuals married for 0-4 years. For Indians/Asians, the number of divorces was almost independent of duration of marriage and constant as duration increased.