Albanians still consider marriage to be the main means of starting a family. In 2019, Albania was ranked third in Europe for the number of marriages per 1000 inhabitants, after Kosovo and Cyprus, Erurostat reported.
During 2019, in Albania, there were 7.9 marriages per 1000 inhabitants. In relation to itself, the number of marriages has decreased, but in Europe we break records after Kosovo, which in 2019 had 9.8 marriages per 1000 inhabitants and Cyprus with 8.9 marriages per 1000 inhabitants. In the EU, in 2019 there were 4.3 marriages per 100 inhabitants.
Lezha, Dibra and Berat, counties with the highest number of marriages; Tirana and Korça less
According to INSTAT, in Albania, the region with the highest number of marriages is Lezha. According to Monitor calculations, in 2019, 11.6 marriages were concluded per 1000 inhabitants. The number of marriages was higher than the national average in the Region of Berat, where in 2019 there were 9.8 marriages per 1000 inhabitants, followed by Dibra, with 9.4 marriages, Fieri 8.8 marriages, Elbasan with 9 marriages and Elbasan with 8.6 marriages .
On the other hand, the counties with the lowest number of marriages in relation to the population are Tirana and Korça. According to the calculations of “Monitor”, based on INSTAT data on the number of marriages and the population by regions, in Tirana only 6.3 marriages were concluded for every 1000 inhabitants, while in Korça 6.4 marriages were concluded for 1000 inhabitants.
Marriages in Europe are declining and being postponed in time
The number of marriages varied from 2001 to 2019 in the EU. In 2001-2006, there were 4.8 to 4.9 marriages per 1,000 people. There was a peak of 5.0 marriages per 1,000 persons in 2007. After that, the rate steadily declined until 2013, when it reached its lowest level during this period, 4.1 marriages per 1,000 persons. Since then, the rate rose again to 4.5 per 1,000 people in 2018. However, in 2019, there was again a drop to 4.3 marriages per 1,000 people, according to Eurostat.
Just as the age of mothers giving birth to their first child is increasing, so is the age of marriage. In all EU member states for which data are available, the average age at first marriage increased between 2001 and 2019. In 2019, the average age at first marriage was highest in Sweden (34.1 years for women and 36.7 for men) and Spain (33.9 and 36.1), and the newest in Slovakia (26.6 for women and 29.2 for men) and Poland (27.7 and 30.1).
/abcnews.al