REGISTERED MARRIAGES rose sharply in 2021 as quarantine measures eased, the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) said in a report on Monday.
Citing preliminary data from its Vital Statistics report, the PSA said marriages in 2021 totaled 356,839, up 48.2%.
On a per-thousand people basis — an indicator known as “crude marriages,” the marriage rate was 3.2% that year, the PSA said.
The daily marriage rate averaged 978 in 2021, the report said.
Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) logged the largest number of marriages with 50,211, or 14.1% of the national total. Metro Manila had 41,025 (11.5%), and Central Luzon 39,402 (11%).
These regions collectively accounted for 36.6% of the national total in 2021.
The Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao posted the fewest registered marriages with 2,337 (0.7%).
December was the preferred month for marriages with 52,788, or 14.8% of the total. June followed with 34,943 (9.8%) and May 34,246 (9.6%).
August had the fewest marriages with 17,710 or 5% of the total.
The age range most represented in the marriage numbers were couples aged between 25 and 29, with men that age entering 136,613 marriages or 38.3% of the total. Women that age accounted for 142,617 or 40% of the total.
The median age at marriage was 29 years for men and 27 for women, the report added.
Adolescents who married in 2021 included 15,253 females (4.3% of the total) and 3,499 males (1%).
Marriages between a Filipino and a foreign national numbered 4,787, or 1.3% of the total.
In 2021, civil marriages remained the preferred type of ceremony, accounting for 141,183 or 39.6% of the total. This was followed by Roman Catholic rites with 114,660 or 32.1%.
Other forms of religious rites accounted for 26.4%. Muslim rites accounted for 1.1% of marriages and tribal rites 0.9%. — Abigail Marie Pelea Yraola