Only 20% of weddings in Balearics are Catholic

BALEARICS – ONLY two in five (20 per cent) marriages in the Balearics were Catholic, National Statistics Institute figures show. Civil marriages now account for two thirds (77 per cent) of unions. The remaining 3 per cent of marriages were of other faiths. In comparison in 2009 31% of the weddings were conducted under the Catholic faith, 68% were civil unions, and 1% were other religions.

The incidences in the Balearics is 3.93 marriages per thousand inhabitants, which is similar to that of Cataluña and Madrid. A reason for the rise in civil marriages is that once practising Catholics have divorced they can only remarry civilly.

In addition, same sex marriages can only be celebrated as civil weddings.

Figures also show that a third (30.6 per cent) of babies born in the Balearics in 2010 were to foreign mothers, whilst the remaining 69 per cent were born to Spanish mothers.

In 2009 there were 12,044 births, of which 3940 babies were born to foreign mothers, a higher incidence rate at 32.7 per cent. The Balearics have an average birth rate of 10.8 births per 1,000 inhabitants.

The death rate in the Balearics is located in the 7.13 deaths per 1,000 inhabitants, one of the lowest in the country. Women on the Balearics have a life expectancy of 5 years longer than men, according to data for the year 2009.

The overall lifespan for a person living in the Balearics is 81.16 years per person, with women living an average of 83.5 years and 78.4 years for men.

This is a year longer than a person living in Madrid.