Skopje, 14 August 2023 (MIA) – 13.7% of the births in North Macedonia are outside of marriage, unlike Northern and Western Europe where the majority of live births were outside of marriage or civil partnership, according to the Landgeist web portal based on latest Eurostat data.

In Eastern Europe, it’s under 30% in most countries. Bulgaria is an outlier there, where it’s 59.9%, one of the highest in Europe. Turkey (2.8%), Belarus (13.0%) and North Macedonia (13.7%) have by far the lowest percentages in Europe. Among the countries in the region, 16.5% of live births in Greece are outside of marriage, 23.6% in Croatia, 30% in Serbia, 57.7% in Slovenia.

Marriage rates have been dropping, especially in Northern and Western Europe. This also results in baby’s being born to parents that are not married or in a civil partnership.

The percentage is highest in Iceland (69.4%), France (63.5%) and Portugal (60.0%). In almost all of Northern and Western Europe, the majority of live births were outside of marriage or civil partnership, Landgeist said.

Photo: Landgeist