More Weddings in 2010

Marriage appears to be "in" again in Austria, up nearly six per cent in 2010 over the previous year, according to Statistik Austria, as 37,493 couples said "ich will" in churches and Standesämter across the country – the second year in a row according to Der Standard of Feb. 25.

However as a percentage of the population, the crude marriage rate is just slightly higher that the 4.2 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants in 2009, the lowest ever recorded, down from 8 per 1,000 in the 1960s. The average age is also going up, 36.6 for men, and 33.2 for women.

There were increases in all nine federal states. The most significant increases happened in Vorarlberg, up 10.9% over 2009, and inSalzburg, up 9.9 %.  Upper Austria, Burgenland, Vienna and Styria all hovered around 5%, and the lowest in Tyrol at 2.2 %.

Playing the numbers, many couples chose 10.10.2010 (451) and 20.10.2010 (261), placing the greatest increase of 22% in the 4th quarter. Still, the most popular month was still May with 5,493 weddings, followed by July with 4,991, and June with 4,694.