CYPRUS has the highest rate of marriage in the EU, but the island is also above the average when it comes to divorces, according to a new Eurostat survey on family in the Union.
There were around 2.2 million marriages in the EU in 2004, or 4.8 marriages per thousand inhabitants. Cyprus, with 7.2 marriages per thousand, was well above the average, followed by Denmark with 7.0 and Malta with 6.0. The lowest marriage rates were in Slovenia, at only 3.3 per thousand, Belgium, 4.1, and Greece, 4.2.
With almost one in every two marriages now ending in divorce within the bloc at 2.1 per thousand inhabitants, the highest rate for divorce was in the Czech Republic and Lithuania, which clocked 3.2 divorces per thousand. Cyprus weighed in at 2.2 divorces per thousand inhabitants, just above the average.
Strongly Catholic Ireland and Italy recorded the least number of divorces. In Ireland the rate is only 0.7 per thousand and in Italy 0.8. The divorce rate in Greece was also low at 1.1 per thousand, but less people get married in Greece, according to the statistics.
When it comes to babies born outside wedlock, the figures show that Cyprus has the lowest number, with only 3.3 per cent of babies born to unmarried mothers compared to Estonia, where nearly 60 per cent of babies are born outside marriage.
Out of the 4.8 million babies born in the EU25 in 2004, around one third was born outside marriage. After Estonia, Sweden has the highest rate, with 55 per cent of babies born out of wedlock, followed by Denmark and Latvia with 45 per cent each.
Along with Cyprus, the fewest babies born outside marriage was in Greece, at only 5.0 per cent, and Italy, 15 per cent.
In 2005, 67 per cent of households in the EU were without children, including single person households. The proportion of households with one child was 16 per cent, while 13 per cent had two children and only 4 per cent had three or more.
Among member states, 70 per cent or more of households in Finland, Germany, Denmark and Austria were without children, while it was 55 per cent or less in Poland, Lithuania, Slovakia, Cyprus and Malta.
It was most common to have one child in nearly all member states. However, in Denmark, Cyprus, Luxembourg and the Netherlands it was more common to have two children. In Belgium and Slovakia, there were equal shares of households with one or two children. In Cyprus, 10 per cent of households had three children or more, compared to the EU25 average of four per cent.
When it came to household expenditure, Cypriots spend less on housing, water, electricity, gas and other fuels than their EU counterparts. The average for the bloc in this sector was 21.4 per cent of income, compared to 12.2 in Cyprus. Only the Maltese spent less at 8.6 per cent in this area.
However when it came to food, alcohol, transport and clothing, Cypriots spent more than the EU average. The only other area where Cypriots spent less was on recreation and cultural activities.
