The number of newborns in 2012 increased by 0.6% (39,435) compared with the corresponding period of 2011. The birth rate in villages remains higher than in towns. More boys than girls are born annually, the ratio being 107:100, IPN has learned from the National Bureau of Statistics.

Fewer women younger than 20 gave birth to children last year. The average age of the mothers at the first birth was 23.7. The women from rural areas give birth at an earlier age than those from urban areas, respectively at 22.8 and 25.1. Most of the numerous families are from villages.

The number of children born outside marriage represented 22.4% of the total, down 4.4% compared with 2011. Each second child was born during the first two years of marriage.

As many as 24,200 marriages were recorded last year, by 6.3% fewer than a year before. Most of the marriages were registered in September (16.3%), while the fewest in March (3.4%). Most of the grooms were aged between 25 and 29 (37.4%), while most of the brides were aged between 20 and 24 (45.3%). The average age at the first marriage was 26 years for men and 23 years for women.

The divorces ended by court totaled 10,600, down 4.3% on 2011. In 30.7% of the cases of divorce, the marriage lasted for less than five years. Each fifth divorced pair had been married for 20 years and more. The average length of the marriages that ended in divorce was 11 years.