The percentage of live births outside marriage in Malta remains among the lowest in the EU, even though it has risen considerably since 1990.

EU figures published today show that in 1990, just 1.8 per cent of live births in Malta were outside marriage, the lowest in the EU at the time.

That figure rose to 10.6 per cent in 2000, making it even higher than Italy (9.7 per cent) as well as Greece (4%) and Cyprus (2.3%).

By 2011, live births outside marriage reached 22.7 per cent, slightly above Poland and well above Greece (7.4 per cent) and Cyprus 16.9 per cent). Italy’s was 23.4 per cent.

The figures also show that Malta’s crude marriage rate (marriages per 1000 persons) is among the highest in the EU. It was 6.2 in 2011, bettered only by Cyprus (7.3) and Lithuania (6.3).

The divorce rate in Malta was the lowest in the EU, as expected given that divorce has just been introduced.

 

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