MARRIAGES AND DIVORCES - marriages and divorces| Contact |
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| Contact organisation | National Statistical Institute |
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| Contact organisation unit | Population and Housing Fund Statistics Department |
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| Contact name | Svetlana Ilieva |
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| Contact person function | Chief expert |
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| Contact mail address | 2, P. Volov Str.; 1038 Sofia, Bulgaria |
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| Contact email address | [email protected] |
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| Contact phone number | +359 2 9857 588 |
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| Contact fax number |
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| Metadata update |
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| Metadata last certified | 29 April 2026 |
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| Metadata last posted | 29 April 2026 |
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| Metadata last update | 29 April 2026 |
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| Statistical presentation |
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| Data description | Registered juridical marriages and divorces terminated with a court decision are observed. Registration is done at the moment of occurrence and the number is calculated as of 31.12 of the reference year. Source of data on marriages and divorces is the Unified System for Civil registration and Administrative Service of Population. The marriages and divorces are registered through a common USCRASP-CDS documents "Marriage notification", "Divorce notification". Regional breakdown of the marriages and divorce data is done according to the country administrative-territorial division as of 31.12 of the reference year (settlements, municipalities, districts and statistical regions) based on the current address. The number of marriages and divorces is used for calculation of the indicators characterising the marriages and divorces in the country. |
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| Classification system | · Classification of Territorial Units for Statistical Purposes in Bulgaria (NUTS); · Unified Classification of the Administrative-Territorial and Territorial Units in Bulgaria (UCATTU). |
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| Sector coverage | Indicators characterising the marriages and divorces are calculated for a calendar year. The cases are included in which at least one of the partners has a usual residence (current address) in the Republic of Bulgaria. |
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| Statistical concepts and definitions | Crude marriage rate The ratio of the number of marriages during the year to the average annual population in that year. The value is expressed per 1000 inhabitants. Crude divorce rate The ratio of the number of divorces during the year to the average annual population in that year. The value is expressed per 1000 inhabitants. The age of persons at marriage and divorce is calculated in completed years based on the date of birth of persons and the date of event - marriage/divorce. |
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| Statistical unit | Marriages, divorces |
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| Statistical population | Total number of marriages and divorces. |
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| Reference area | Regional breakdown of the marriages and divorces data is done according to the country administrative-territorial division as of 31.12 of the reference year (settlements, municipalities, districts and statistical regions). |
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| Time coverage | Marriages · 1888 - 2025 total for the country; · 2010 - 2025 - the NSI website. Divorces · 1947 - 2025 - total for the country; · 2010 - 2025 - the NSI website. |
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| Base period | Not applicable. |
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| Unit of measure |
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Number; per 1 000 population |
| Reference period |
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Calendar year |
| Institutional mandate |
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| Legal acts and other agreements | · Law on Statistics; · Law on Civil Registration. · Regulation (EU) 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European demographic statistics; · Commission implementing regulation (EU) № 205/2014 laying down uniformed conditions for the implementation of Regulation (EU) No 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and the Council on European demographic statistics, as regards breakdowns of data, deadlines and data revisions |
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| Data sharing | Data are transmitted to Eurostat, UNICEF, UN on the basis of Regulation (EU) 1260/2013 of the European Parliament and of the Council on the European demographic statistics. |
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| Confidentiality |
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| Confidentiality - policy | · Law on Statistics; · Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics (recital 24 and Article 20(4)) of 11 March 2009 (OJ L 87, p. 164), stipulates the need to establish common principles and guidelines ensuring the confidentiality of data used for the production of European statistics and the access to those confidential data with due account for technical developments and the requirements of users in a democratic society. |
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| Confidentiality - data treatment | Individual data are not published in accordance with article 25 of the Law on Statistics. The publishing of individual data can be performed only in accordance with article 26 of the same law. |
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| Release policy |
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| Release calendar | Information is published annually according to the Release Calendar presenting the results of the statistical surveys carried out by the National Statistical Institute. |
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| Release calendar access | The calendar is available on the NSI website: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/480 |
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| User access | Data is published on the NSI website, section Population - Demography, Migration and Projections in accordance with the Law on Statistics and the European Statistics Code of Practice respecting the professional independence and aimed at objectivity, transparency and equal treatment of all consumers. |
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| Frequency of dissemination |
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Annually |
| Accessibility and clarity |
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| News release | News release "Population and demographic processes". |
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| Publications | · Population and demographic processes; · Statistical Reference Book; · Statistical Yearbook; · "Bulgaria" (brochure). |
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| On-line database | Data on marriages and divorces are available to all users of the NSI website under the heading Population - Demography, Migration and Projections - Marriages and divorces: http://www.nsi.bg/en/node/6651 Information System Infostat: https://infostat.nsi.bg/infostat/pages/module.jsf?x_2=54 |
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| Micro-data access | Anonymised individual data can be provide for scientific and research purposes, and for individual request according to the Rules for the provision of anonymised individual data for scientific and research purposes. |
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| Other | Information service on request, according to the Rules for the dissemination of statistical products and services in NSI. |
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| Documentation on methodology | · Methodology on marriages and divorces: http://www.nsi.bg/sites/default/files/files/metadata/Pop_4_Metodology_marriages-divorces_en.pdf; · Manual for functioning of the Unified System for Civil registration and Administrative Service of Population. |
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| Quality documentation | Not available. |
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| Quality management |
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| Quality assurance | Not applicable. |
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| Quality assessment | Not applicable. |
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| Relevance |
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| User needs | Data on marriages and divorces are presented annually to the Eurostat, UN and UNICEF questionnaires filled in annually. At national and regional level the main data users are ministries, agencies, national organizations and local authorities. Data is presented to scientific institutes, universities, NGOs and others based on requests. |
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| User satisfaction | No user' satisfaction surveys are carried out. |
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| Completeness | Marriages Marriages by age and year of birth of the spouses, consecutive number of the marriage, previous marital status and residence. Divorces Divorces by age of spouses, duration of the marriage, number of children, reasons for the divorce, consecutive number of the divorce and residence. |
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| Accuracy and reliability |
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| Overall accuracy | Not applicable. |
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| Sampling error | Not applicable. |
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| Non-sampling error | Not applicable. |
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| Timeliness and punctuality |
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| Timeliness | Data are published up to the end of April of the year following the reference year. |
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| Punctuality | Data are released according to the terms provided in the Release Calendar presenting the results of the statistical surveys carried out by the National Statistical Institute. |
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| Coherence and comparability |
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| Comparability - geographical | Data is collected and processed for the different territorial units using one and the same methodology and definitions. |
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| Comparability - over time | Changes of the methodology and definitions for different time periods are published in the survey methodology and metadata. Due to the availability of a new population estimation based on Census 2021 data, there is a break in the time series for all 2022 rates, calculated with the average annual population. |
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| Coherence - cross domain | Not applicable. |
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| Coherence - internal | Not applicable. |
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| Cost and burden |
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Not applicable. |
| Data revision |
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| Data revision - policy | Not applicable. |
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| Data revision - practice | Not applicable. |
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| Statistical processing |
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| Source data | Source of data on marriages and divorces is the Unified System for Civil registration and Administrative Service of Population. Marriages and divorces are registered through a common USCRASP-CDS "Marriage notification" and "Divorce notification". |
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| Frequency of data collection | Monthly |
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| Data collection | Exhaustively for all registered during the year juridical marriages and divorces. Computer files are received from the Unified System for Civil registration and Administrative Service of Population (administrative source). |
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| Data validation | Data on demographic events is checked and controlled before to be loaded in the IS "Demography". For successful processing, the initial notification should meet the system rules on validation and control. The processed results are validated in respect the consistency of a single table and between the tables. |
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| Data compilation | Data is processed by the IS "Demography" according to the rules for validation and control of the demographic events. |
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| Adjustment | Not applicable. |
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| Comment |
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