The largest number of marriages last year was recorded in October (13.8%), while the lowest number – in April (2.9%). The marriage rate is 7.5 marriages per 1,000 people. As many as 26,700 couples got married in 2008, down 9.1% from 2007, Info-Prim Neo reports, quoting the National Bureau of Statistics. The average age at the first marriage was 25 years for men and 23 years for women. The marriages involving divorced men that remarried made up 18.4% of the total marriages, while those that involved divorced women – 15.1%. The marriages involving widowers that remarried constituted 0.9%, while widows -1.8%. The divorce rate decreased by 9.4 % from 2007, to 3.5 divorces per 1,000 people. The divorces of couples with minors made up 29.7% of all the divorces. 31.2% of the couples got a divorce after being married for less than 5 years. The average length of a marriage that ended in divorce was 11 years.