During the war, Ukrainians were more likely to get married than to divorce, and were reluctant to use marriage contracts.
The full-scale invasion heightened the feelings of Ukrainians: last year the number of marriages in the country increased by 4%. This is the biggest increase and record in the last three years. The number of divorces due to civil registry offices and marriage contracts has significantly decreased.
The real marriage boom occurred in the Kirovograd and Poltava regions. Over the year, the number of families there increased by 1.6 and 1.5 times, respectively. But in the number of new families unconditionally leads Dnepropetrovsk region – 26,534 marriages a year. This is almost twice (43%) more than in 2021.
Despite the fact that compared to 2021, marriage in Kiev became less, the number of marriages the capital still holds in the top: 23,457 new families a year. The Odessa region closes the three leaders: +16,980 new families.
The largest decline in the registration of marriages is expected in the temporarily occupied and newly liberated territories: -78% Kherson region, -36% – Kharkiv. Among the other regions of Ukraine, the biggest decline in the Chernivtsi region – there were new families in the last year almost a third less often by 2021.
At the same time, the number of divorces through the registry office decreased by 40 per cent. If in previous years, on average, because of the Registry Office, 33 thousand couples broke up their relations a year, then last year there were 17 893 divorces. This is the lowest in nine years.
However, it should be understood that only couples who have no minor children, property claims and jointly agree to terminate the relationship may dissolve the marriage at the registry office. In other cases, divorce takes place through the courts and can last for years.
In Kiev, the number of divorces decreased by 23% compared to 2021. Despite this, it was in the capital that the greatest number of divorce was recorded in the registry office: 2,698. Interestingly, the leader in the number of marriages – Dnepropetrovsk region – was in the top number of divorces: 2218. Compared to the year, their number decreased by a third. Closes the top Odessa region with 1503 divorces.
The biggest decline from year to year was recorded in the Chernivtsi region – in this region divorce was half less.
The marriage boom did not lead to an increase in the number of marriage contracts. Compared to 2021, the number of contracts decreased by 2.6 times.
In comparison, the number of prenuptial agreements had previously increased by an average of 10 per cent annually. The exception was only in 2021, when the number of contracts increased by 47%.
Only 7 out of 1,000 families signed a contract last year. In 2021, 2% of couples signed a marriage contract
