Belarusians lead Europe by number of marriages

“Last year, we had 8,9 marriages registered per thousand people. This is one of the highest indicators in Europe,” said Marina Artemenko, Deputy Head of the Department of Population, Gender and Family Policy of the Ministry of Labor and Social Protection of the Republic of Belarus.

Belarusians are still inclined to officially register relations. In 2014, marriage certificates received 83,9 thousands of couples. The official marriage rate in Belarus remains high, despite a general decline in the number of marriages.

Another trend in recent years: Belarusians have increasingly begun to postpone starting a family until a more conscious age. If in 2000 women first got married at the age of 22,8 years, and men at 25 years old, then in 2014 newlyweds on average “aged” by 2,5 years (the average age of brides was 25,3 years, grooms - 27,4 years).

Last year, thousands of children were born in the republic 118,5 - this is one of the highest rates in the last 20 years.

“Our country does not have significant natural resources; its main resource is human potential, the foundation of which is laid in the family. Everything depends on the family: the economy, well-being, education, and morality in society,” the specialist noted.

According to the census 2009 of the year, about 2,7 of a million families live in Belarus. Nearly half of them (about 45%) have children under the age of 18.