Official figures published today by the National Statistics Office appear to confirm that women are marrying slightly later in life.

The figures for the years since 2001 show that whereas in 2001 and 2002 the biggest age bracket of brides was between 20-24, it has since become between 25 and 29. Last year alone, there were 647 brides aged between 20 and 24, and 1,059 aged between 25 and 29. The figure then falls off sharply; there were 381 brides aged between 30 and 34 last year

In contrast, the biggest age bracket of grooms has always been between 25 and 29.

The number of marriages has been on a more or less constant increase, surpassing 2,500 in 2006, but it dipped below that figure last year.

There were almost 1,000 births outside marriage last year, of which 280 were to women under 20 (only 45 of the fathers were under 20).

The figures were issued by the NSO to mark the International Day of Families, celebrated today.

An overview of the structure of Maltese households shows that according to the 2005 population census, the largest proportion of households in Malta was composed of two adults but no dependent children. In 2005, married persons made up 48.5 percent of the total population.

The most common age for men to have a baby was 30-34 while for mothers it was 25-29.