Italy marriage rate lowest in EU - Eurostat

(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 13 - Italy's marriage rate was the lowest in the European Union in 2019 at 3.1 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Portugal and Slovenia (both 3. 2) and France, Spain, and Luxembourg at 3.5 per 1,000, Eurostat said Thursday.
    In 2018 Italy's rate was 3.2.
    Eurostat said the number of marriages was steadily declining and that of divorces steadily rising.
    The marriage rate across the Union fell from 8.0 in 1964 to 4.3 in 2019, it said.
    In 2019, the EU countries with the highest marriage rates were Cyprus (8.9 marriages per 1000 people), Lithuania (7.0), Latvia and Hungary (both 6.7) and Romania (6.6).
    Next came Slovakia (5.4), and Denmark and Malta (5.3).
    The divorce rate has more than doubled since 1964, Eurostat said.
    It was 0.8 per 1,000 in 1964 and 1.8 in 2019, the statistics agency said.
    The lowest divorce rates in 2019 were in Malta and Ireland (0.7 divorces for every 1000 people), followed by Slovenia (1.2), Italy (1.4) and Croatia (1.5).
    The highest divorce rates were in Latvia, Lithuania and Luxembourg (all with 3.1 divorces per 1000 people), Cyprus (2.6) and Sweden (2.5). (ANSA).