In Turkey divorces increase faster than marriages in 2012

Marriages and divorces in Turkey increased by 1.9 and 2.7 percent respectively in 2012, TurkStat said.   According to the marriage and divorce statistics provided by Turkey's statistical insitute, TurkStat, the number of couples who got married in 2012 increased by 1.9 percent according to the previous year and increased to 603,751.   Average age at first marriage was 26.7 for males and 23.5 for females in 2012. Age difference at first marriage between male and female was 3.2 years. Istanbul Region had the highest average age at first marriage with 27.6 for males and 24.6 for females. On the contrary, Central Anatolia Region had the lowest average age at first marriage with 25.7 for males. On the other hand, Central Anatolia and Northeast Anatolia Regions had the lowest mean age at first marriage with 22.2 for females. The number of couples who got divorced in 2012 increased by 2.7 percent according to the previous year and increased to 123,325. Aegean Region had the highest divorce rate with 2.30 percent and West Anatolia Region followed to Aegean Region with 2.11 percent. In 2012, 39.6 percent of divorces occurred in the first five years of marriage and 21.2 percent of divorces occurred in the marriages with the duration of 6-10 years.