Albania still holds a record for marriages, but is entering Europe’s top ten for divorces

Albania has the highest marriage rate in Europe. According to Eurostat, in 2024 there were 6.8 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants, the same rate as in 2022, and much higher than the European average of 3.9.

In second place is North Macedonia, but its latest data are from 2021. Data for Kosovo is missing; it has a young population and a high number of marriages. In the region, the lowest marriage rate is in Serbia, with 4.6 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants.

After Albania, the highest crude marriage rates are recorded in Turkey, with 6.6, and Moldova, with 6.1.

In Albania, the marriage rate was relatively high in the 1980s–1990s, reaching its peak in 1990 with 8.9 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants. After this period, a gradual decline has been observed.

On the other hand, divorces in Albania have become more common compared to the past. In 2024, the rate was 2.0 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants, while in 1964 it was only 0.6, representing an increase of around 233%.

The peak was reached in 2019, with 2.1 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants. The divorce rate is above the European average, which stood at 1.6 in 2024.

Albania ranked 11th for the highest number of divorces relative to population in 2024. Excluding the Baltic countries, which lead in divorce rates per population (4 in Moldova, 2.5 in Lithuania, and 2.1 in Estonia), Albania ranks fifth in Europe, after Denmark (2.1), Turkey (2.2), Finland (2.1), and Sweden (2.1).

The Baltic countries have high divorce rates mainly because divorce is more socially accepted, legally easier, and women have greater economic independence.

In Albania, the latest INSTAT figures show that the number of marriages has fallen to its lowest historical level, while divorces have moved in the opposite direction, reaching unprecedented peaks. The year 2024 marks a historic minimum with only 16,120 marriages, down from around 29,000 in 1990.

At the same time, divorces have increased. In 2024 there were a total of 4,800 divorces, up from around 2,700 in 1990. Practically, in the country, one in three marriages does not last “until death do us part.”

In Europe, neighboring Italy, where many Albanians live as emigrants, is practically no longer getting married. Italy had the lowest marriage rate per 1,000 inhabitants, at just 2.9, more than half of Albania’s rate. Marriage rates are also low in neighboring Greece (3.5), where more than half of Albanian emigrants live.

Fewer marriages, fewer divorces

According to Eurostat, about 1.7 million marriages and about 0.7 million divorces were recorded in the EU in 2024. In relation to population, these figures represent 3.9 marriages per 1,000 people and 1.6 divorces per 1,000 people.

Since 1964, the first year for which data is available, the crude marriage rate in the EU has fallen by more than 50% in relative terms, from 8.0 per 1,000 people in 1964 to 3.9 in 2024. The downward trend has been interrupted by several temporary increases in 1989 (6.4 per 1,000), 2000 (5.2), 2007 (5.0), and 2018 (4.5).

The significant decline observed between 2019 (4.3 per 1,000 people) and 2020 (3.2) in the crude marriage rate can be interpreted as an effect of the COVID-19 pandemic, representing a drop of almost 25%. Since then, a slight increase has been observed, with the crude marriage rate estimated at 3.9 in 2024.

During the same long period, the crude divorce rate has almost doubled, rising from 0.8 per 1,000 people in 1964 to 1.6 in 2024. The divorce rate peaked in 2006 at 2.1 per 1,000 people and has slightly decreased since then.

In 2024, Malta had the lowest divorce rate in the EU, with 0.9 divorces per 1,000 inhabitants, followed by Slovenia and Romania. The highest rates were recorded in the Baltic countries, mainly Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Estonia, Finland, and Sweden.

Part of this increase can be explained by the fact that divorce was legalized in some EU countries during this period, such as Italy, Spain, Ireland, and Malta.

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic also appears to have affected the divorce rate, as seen in the slight decline between 2019 and 2020. However, the decrease in the crude divorce rate was much less pronounced, around 10%, than that of the crude marriage rate. Since then, this value has remained almost unchanged.

“KORÇA BOOM”