IMPROVING LIVES THROUGH DATA ECOSYSTEMS

A total of 135 458, civil marriages, 2 588 customary marriages and 1 357 civil unions were registered in 2017. A comparison with the 2016 data shows that registration of civil marriages and customary marriages dropped by 2,9% and 34,9% respectively, whereas that of civil unions increased by 0,3%.

The median age of first time civil marriage bridegrooms and brides was 34 years and 31 years, respectively. For customary marriages, the median age of bridegrooms and brides increased by two years. Bridegrooms increased from 33 years in 2016 to 35 years in 2017 while brides increased from 27 years to 29 years during the same period. Regarding all civil unions, the median age for Spouses-1 decreased by one year from 36 years in 2016 to 35 years in 2017 while that Spouses-2 remained unchanged at 33 years.

In 2017, 25 390 completed divorce forms were processed indicating an increase of 0,3% from the 25 326 processed in 2016. There were more female, 12 938 (51,0%) than male, 8 878 (35,0%) plaintiffs. The median ages at divorce in 2017 were 44 years for men and 40 years for women. The findings show that four in ten divorces,11 330 (44,6%) of the 25 390 in 2017 came from marriages that did not reach their tenth wedding anniversary. In 2017, there were 14 121 (55,6%) divorces with children aged less than 18 years affected.