Average Bulgarian marriage lasts just fewer than 16 years – National Statistical Institute
The average duration of a marriage in Bulgaria has increased, from a 1990 figure of 9.4 years to 15.8 years in 2017, the National Statistical Institute (NSI) said in a new publication “Women and Men in the Republic of Bulgaria 2018”.
In 1960, the average age at first marriage for men and women in Bulgaria was 24.7 and 21.7 years, respectively. Since 1995, the average age at marriage has been gradually rising, reaching 31.4 in 2017 for men and 28.4 years for women.
The average age of women in the birth of a first child increased from 21.9 years in 1980 to 27.1 years in 2017.
In 2017, the average number of live births per woman in Bulgaria was 1.56.
In 1900 it was was 6.97, in 1985, 1.95 children, and in 2001, 1.24 children.
Over the years there have been changes in the type of family. The number of families composed of spouses without children decreased, but their relative share varied around 38 per cent in all censuses.
Families of two spouses with children decrease both in number and in relative share, while the number and share of families made up of one parent with children has been increasing.
“Traditionally in our country the man is considered the head of the family,” the publication said.
At the last census, 82.3 per cent of the heads of the families are men. About 17.7 per cent of households are headed by women, in two-thirds of cases being mothers who are raising their children by themselves.
The average life expectancy for Bulgarian men between 2015 and 2017 was 71.3 years, while for women it was 7.1 years higher, at 78.4 years, the NSI said.
Compared to 1961, men’s average life expectancy increased by 2.9 years, and for women by 5.8 years. The difference between the two sexes was greatest in 1995 (7.7 years), and the lowest in 1964 (3.5 years), the institute said.
As at December 31 2017, women outnumbered men in Bulgaria. Of a total population of 7 050 034, a total of 3 627 625 were women – about 51.45 per cent.
(Photo: bea29sm/sxc.hu)
