Greece has lowest share of births out of wedlock, but weddings decrease
Greece had the lowest share of births out of wedlock in the European Union in 2018, according to the EU statistics agency Eurostat.
At 11.1%, it occupies the last place in the relevant list, with the next country with the lowest percentage being Cyprus at 20.3%.
According to Eurostat data compiled by Statista, in eight EU countries the percentage of out-of-wedlock births exceeded 50%, with France at the top with 60.4%.
The data also suggests that the institution of marriage is gradually losing its relevance in certain parts of the bloc.
Greece is no exception, according to the ELSTAT national statistic agency, which showed that in 2018 marriages amounted to 47,428 (24,418 religious and 23,010 civil) showing a decrease of 5.4% compared to 2017, a year in which 50,138 marriages took place (24,975 religious and 25,163 civil).
Cohabitation agreements came to 6,369, up 29.4% from 2017.
