Ukrainians got married less and divorced more in 2023
Where in Ukraine do they marry and divorce the most?
14 February 2024
In 2023, over 186,000 marriages were registered in Ukraine according to the Ministry of Justice of Ukraine. Divorces and prenuptial agreements increased, but still fewer than before the start of the major war.
186,051 marriages were registered through the Registrar’s Office in Ukraine in 2023.
In the first year of the full-scale war, Ukrainians actively got married — 4% more than in 2021, when 214,013 couples tied the knot. However, in 2023, the number of marriages sharply decreased — by 16% in one year.
Overall, in the last 10 years, the number of new families has decreased by 1.6 times.
| Year | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of marriages | 304,232 | 294,962 | 299,082 | 229,453 | 249,522 | 228,411 | 237,858 | 167,974 | 214,013 | 222,890 | 186,051 |
In 2023, Kyiv was the leader in the number of new marriages with 21,802. This is 14% less than in 2021. In second place was Dnipropetrovsk region with 18,816 marriages. Odessa region closed the top three leaders with 13,740 new families.
The only region where the number of new families increased in the second year of the full-scale war was Kharkiv region: 10,977 marriages, or +11%.
Compared to the period before the start of the major war, last year there was an increase in new families in the central regions: Kirovohrad region (+28%), Zhytomyr region (+23%), Cherkasy region (+22%).
Meanwhile, in the western part of the country, on average, 20% fewer couples are getting married: Ternopil region (-24%), Zakarpattia region (-23%), Lviv region (-20%). The anti-record was recorded in Chernivtsi region — the number of new families decreased by a third.
After a decline in the first year of the full-scale war, the number of divorces through the Registry Office increased again by 35%. Last year, 24,108 divorces were recorded. However, this is still 18.5% less than in 2021.
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The number of divorces | 34,230 | 35,463 | 33,169 | 53,861 | 38,472 | 28,929 | 29,587 | 17,893 | 24,108 |
Kyiv leads not only in the number of marriages but also in divorces — 3,793 in the past year. The capital accounts for almost 16% of the total number of divorces through the Registry Offices.
The number of divorces significantly increased in 2023 compared to 2021 in Ivano-Frankivsk Oblast — by 20%. Conversely, in Odesa Oblast, last year, a quarter fewer married couples split up than in 2021.
However, it’s essential to understand that this statistic is not comprehensive. Only couples without underage children or property claims against each other can divorce through the Registry Office. In other cases, divorces happen through the court system and can take years.
The number of marriage contracts increased by 1.6 times last year compared to the first year of the war. There were 2,586 contracts made last year, which is a third less than in 2021.
Currently, there is one marriage contract for every 72 marriages.
| Year | 2015 | 2016 | 2017 | 2018 | 2019 | 2020 | 2021 | 2022 | 2023 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Number of marriage contracts | 1,703 | 1,915 | 2,134 | 2,544 | 2,709 | 2,796 | 4,099 | 1,593 | 2,586 |
Source: Opendatabot
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