Vital Statistics: Marriages
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1.1. Contact organisation
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National Statistics Institute of Spain
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1.5. Contact mail address
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Avenida de Manoteras 50-52 - 28050 Madrid
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1.1. Contact organisation
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2.1. Metadata last certified
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17/09/2025
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2.2. Metadata last posted
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20/11/2024
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2.3. Metadata last update
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17/09/2025
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2.1. Metadata last certified
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3.1. Data description
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Marriage Statistics record the marriages celebrated in Spain each year.
The data used to compile these statistics come from different systems. The information is obtained from records entered in the Civil Registries through an application called DICIREG. This application, implemented in all Civil Registries in July 2025, collects all marriages registered in Spain each year. However, in this publication, data have also been compiled from the application previously used by the Civil Registry, known as INFOREG, as well as from non-digitalized Civil Registries. In these registries, the information has been collected through a document called the Statistical Marriage Bulletin. This document is completed by the spouses, in the section concerning personal data, while the Civil Registry in which the marriage is registered fills in the information related to the registration itself.
Marriage statistics provide disaggregated information at the national level, as well as by autonomous communities, provinces, capitals, and municipalities.
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3.2. Classification system
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- Comunidades y Ciudades Autónomas
01 Andalucía 02 Aragón 03 Asturias, Principado de 04 Balears, Illes 05 Canarias 06 Cantabria 07 Castilla y León 08 Castilla - La Mancha 09 Cataluña 10 Comunitat Valenciana 11 Extremadura 12 Galicia 13 Madrid, Comunidad de 14 Murcia, Región de 15 Navarra, Comunidad Foral de 16 País Vasco 17 Rioja, La 18 Ceuta 19 Melilla
- Estado civil 1
1 Solteros/Solteras 3 Viudos/Viudas 5 Divorciados/Divorciadas
- Forma de celebración
1 Según la religión católica 2 Según otras religiones 3 Exclusivamente civil
- Grupos de edad 13
Y-LT15 Menos de 15 años Y15T19 De 15 a 19 años Y20T24 De 20 a 24 años Y25T29 De 25 a 29 años Y30T34 De 30 a 34 años Y35T39 De 35 a 39 años Y40T44 De 40 a 44 años Y45T49 De 45 a 49 años Y50T54 De 50 a 54 años Y55T59 De 55 a 59 años Y-GE60 60 y más años
- Municipios
- Relación de municipios y sus códigos acorde al estándar del INE Ver clasificación
- Provincias
02 Albacete 03 Alicante/Alacant 04 Almería 01 Araba/Álava 33 Asturias 05 Ávila 06 Badajoz 07 Balears, Illes 08 Barcelona 48 Bizkaia 09 Burgos 10 Cáceres 11 Cádiz 39 Cantabria 12 Castellón/Castelló 13 Ciudad Real 14 Córdoba 15 Coruña, A 16 Cuenca 20 Gipuzkoa 17 Girona 18 Granada 19 Guadalajara 21 Huelva 22 Huesca 23 Jaén 24 León 25 Lleida 27 Lugo 28 Madrid 29 Málaga 30 Murcia 31 Navarra 32 Ourense 34 Palencia 35 Palmas, Las 36 Pontevedra 26 Rioja, La 37 Salamanca 38 Santa Cruz de Tenerife 40 Segovia 41 Sevilla 42 Soria 43 Tarragona 44 Teruel 45 Toledo 46 Valencia/València 47 Valladolid 49 Zamora 50 Zaragoza 51 Ceuta 52 Melilla
- Sexo
1 Hombres 2 Mujeres
- Valores especiales
U Desconocido, no sabe, sin datos X No consta, no asignado, no especificado P No procede Z No clasificable, no aplicable
- Comunidades y Ciudades Autónomas
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3.3. Sector coverage
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It covers all marriages celebrated in Spain, regardless of whether they are of the resident or non-resident population.
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3.4. Statistical concepts and definitions
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- Legal marital status
Legal marital status is defined as that which every individual has in accordance with marriage legislation (or marriage uses) of the country (in other words, the legal situation).
- Marriage
Stable union between two persons, resulting from an agreement between the wishes of both of them, outwardly manifested via the legally established formalities.
- Usual residence
Place where a person normally spends rest periods, not taking into account temporary absences due to leisure trips, holidays, visits to family and friends, business, visiting friends or relatives or religious pilgrimages. Nevertheless, it is important to highlight that only usual residents in a region will be considered: - Those who, according to the previous definition, would usually have lived therein for a continuous period of at least 12 months. - Those who, according to the previous definition, would have established their usual residence therein less than 12 months ago, but with the intention of remaining therein for at least one year. Where the above circumstances cannot be established, "usual residence" shall mean the place of registered residence.
- Legal marital status
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3.5. Statistical unit
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This statistic's basic unit is the marriage celebrated
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3.6. Statistical population
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The population subject to statistical study is all persons who have entered into marriage in Spain
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3.7. Reference area
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The statistic covers the entire national territory.
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3.8. Time coverage
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The survey is carried out annually. Results are available from 1900 until 2024.
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3.9. Base period
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2005 can also be taken as a start year, as this is the year when same sex marriages were included.
Marriages between persons of different sexes have been comparable since 1975.
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3.1. Data description
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4.1. Unit of measure
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The unit of measurement are the persons who entered into marriage.
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4.1. Unit of measure
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5.1. Reference period
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Data refer to the calendar year covered by the statistic, regardless of whether data are published by month of celebration of marriage
Data referring to the period: Annual Y: 2025
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5.1. Reference period
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6.1. Legal acts and other agreements
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The compilation and dissemination of the data are governed by the Statistical Law No. 12/1989 "Public Statistical Function" of May 9, 1989, and Law No. 4/1990 of June 29 on “National Budget of State for the year 1990" amended by Law No. 13/1996 "Fiscal, administrative and social measures" of December 30, 1996, makes compulsory all statistics included in the National Statistics Plan. The National Statistical Plan 2009-2012 was approved by the Royal Decree 1663/2008. It contains the statistics that must be developed in the four year period by the State General Administration's services or any other entity dependent on it. All statistics included in the National Statistics Plan are statistics for state purposes and are obligatory. The National Statistics Plan 2025-2028, approved by Royal Decree 1225/2024, of 3 December, is the Plan currently implemented. This statistical operation has governmental purposes, and it is included in the National Statistics Plan 2025-2028. (Statistics of the State Administration).
Collaboration agreements with the Autonomous Communities for the preparation of the Vital Statistics
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6.2. Data sharing
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The exchanges of information needed to elaborate statistics between the INE and the rest of the State statistical offices (Ministerial Departments, independent bodies and administrative bodies depending on the State General Administration), or between these offices and the Autonomic statistical offices, are regulated in the LFEP (Law of the Public Statistic Function). This law also regulates the mechanisms of statistical coordination, and concludes cooperation agreements between the different offices when necessary.
It is carried out collaboratively with the Autonomous Communities
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6.1. Legal acts and other agreements
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7.1. Confidentiality - policy
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The Statistical Law No. 12/1989 specifies that the INE cannot publish, or make otherwise available, individual data or statistics that would enable the identification of data for any individual person or entity. Regulation (EC) No 223/2009 on European statistics 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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7.2. Confidentiality - data treatment
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INE provides information on the protection of confidentiality at all stages of the statistical process: INE questionnaires for the operations in the national statistical plan include a legal clause protecting data under statistical confidentiality. Notices prior to data collection announcing a statistical operation notify respondents that data are subject to statistical confidentiality at all stages. For data processing, INE employees have available the INE data protection handbook, which specifies the steps that should be taken at each stage of processing to ensure reporting units' individual data are protected. The microdata files provided to users are anonymised.
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7.1. Confidentiality - policy
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8.1. Release calendar
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The advance release calendar that shows the precise release dates for the coming year is disseminated in the last quarter of each year.
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8.2. Release calendar access
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The calendar is disseminated on the INEs Internet website (Publications Calendar)
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8.3. User access
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The data are released simultaneously according to the advance release calendar to all interested parties by issuing the press release. At the same time, the data are posted on the INE's Internet website (www.ine.es/en) almost immediately after the press release is issued. Also some predefined tailor-made requests are sent to registered users. Some users could receive partial information under embargo as it is publicly described in the European Statistics Code of Practice
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8.1. Release calendar
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9.1. Frequency of dissemination
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Definitive data are disseminated on an annual basis.
Definitive data for year t is disseminated in November of year t + 1.
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9.1. Frequency of dissemination
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10.1. News release
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The results of the statistical operations are normally disseminated by using press releases that can be accessed via both the corresponding menu and the Press Releases Section in the web
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10.2. Publications
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The results of this statistic are released through the INE webpage and some results are covered in publications such as the Anuario Estadistico (Statistical Yearbook), Cifras INE (INE Figures), España en Cifras (Spain in Figures), etc.
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10.3. On-line database
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INEbase is the system the INE uses to store statistical information on the Internet. It contains all the information the INE produces in electronic formats. The primary organisation of the information follows the theme-based classification of the Inventory of Statistical Operations of the State General Administration . The basic unit of INEbase is the statistical operation, defined as the set of activities that lead to obtaining statistical results on a determined sector or subject based on the individually collected data. Also included in the scope of this definition are synthesis preparation.
All information relating to this statistic (results, methodology, questionnaires, etc.) can be found at:
All the information relating to Basic Demographic Indicators in general can be found at:
The definitive data on marriage rate indicators offer information at the national level and at the level of the Autonomous Communities and provinces of residence with a greater disaggregation of variables.
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10.4. Micro-data access
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A lot of statistical operations disseminate public domain anonymized files, available free of charge for downloading in the INE website Microdata Section
Microdata files on this statistic can be accessed and downloaded. These files are anonymised to maintain statistical secrecy.
No information is provided on the following variables:
- Names, surnames, identity documents, residence of spouses
- Registration data of the marriage in the civil registry
- Day variable on all dates
- Codes of municipalities with under 10,000 inhabitants. The size of the municipality is provided.
- Codes of countries with a lower frequency than that established.
- The information can be found at:
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10.5. Other
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Interested users may request specific use of information through the INE Information Area, carried out while preserving the confidentiality of data and by signing the corresponding agreement or document.
See:
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10.6. Documentation on methodology
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A detailed description can be found at:
https://www.ine.es/en/metodologia/t20/metodologia_idb_en.pdf
https://www.ine.es/en/metodologia/t20/t2030301_en.pdf
AC3=100%.
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10.7. Quality documentation
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Sections 10.6 to 17 of this document are considered the user-oriented quality report for this operation.
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10.1. News release
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11.1. Quality assurance
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Quality assurance framework for the INE statistics is based on the ESSCoP, the European Statistics Code of Practice made by EUROSTAT. The ESSCoP is made up of 16 principles, gathered in three areas: Institutional Environment, Processes and Products. Each principle is associated with some indicators which make possible to measure it. In order to evaluate quality, EUROSTAT provides different tools: the indicators mentioned above, Self-assessment based on the DESAP model, peer review, user satisfaction surveys and other proceedings for evaluation.
On the 1 January 2008, a series of reforms for the collection of information on the Marriage Statistics came into force. There are various changes effected, both in forms and in the information flow.
The objectives were the following:
1.- Improve the quality of information in general, including new variables in accordance with the Eurostat recommendations.
2.- Adapt to new information and communication technologies for the collection of information. For this, optical character recognition (OCR) was introduced to record information and a new Statistical Marriage Bulletin was designed for the same purpose.
With the aim of evaluating the quality of information contained in the Statistical Marriage Bulletin, exhaustive checks were carried out in all stages of the statistical process, from the recording of information to its publication.
There is particular emphasis on ensuring that the values of the variables are valid, that there are no inconsistencies between the information received on one marriage and that data on all marriages celebrated in the reference period are received.
Furthermore, the INE's information is compared with that provided by the Ministry of Justice on registrations made in the computerised civil registries. This comparison allows us to correct any errors detected.
In order to evaluate the quality of the information exhaustive controls are carried out in all phases of the statistics process from the recording of the information to its publication. Particular emphasis is placed on checking that the values of the variables are valid and there are no inconsistencies between the information is received in a marriage.
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11.2. Quality assessment
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Not applicable.
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11.1. Quality assurance
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12.1. User needs
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Marriage information is used by other units of the INE, such as:
- Demographic Indicators, for the preparation of nuptiality tables.
- National organizations: Based on the RESOLUTION of February 7, 2005, from the Undersecretariat, which provides for the publication of the management assignment from the State Secretariat for Justice to the National Institute of Statistics regarding the transmission of computerized data on birth, marriage, and death registrations recorded in Civil Registries, the State Secretariat for Justice and the National Institute of Statistics signed, on October 13, 2004, an agreement assigning the latter, on a transitional basis until the computerization process of all Civil Registries is completed, the transmission of computerized data on birth, marriage, and death registrations recorded in Civil Registries. At the request of the Directorate General of Registries and Notaries, the National Institute of Statistics may facilitate the mass transmission of publicly useful data to public organizations with an interest in them.
- International organizations: EUROSTAT and the United Nations. The agreed information is sent in accordance with the discussions held in demographic statistics working group meetings.
- Requests from universities, companies, and individuals.
Regarding unsatisfied user needs, the following demands have been identified:
- Greater data disaggregation, particularly regarding the sociodemographic characteristics of spouses.
- Faster access to data in open and dynamic formats for real-time analysis.
- Reduction of the time lag in the publication of information.
To address these issues, the INE is working on:
- Improvements in data collection and validation processes to reduce publication time without compromising quality.
- Exploring new variables and levels of disaggregation, while complying with data protection regulations.
- Expanding accessibility through interactive platforms, allowing for more dynamic and customized queries.
These actions aim to ensure that statistical information on marriages remains useful and relevant for various users.
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12.2. User satisfaction
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The INE has carried out general user satisfaction surveys in 2007, 2010, 2013, 2016 and 2019 and it plans to continue doing so every three years. The purpose of these surveys is to find out what users think about the quality of the information of the INE statistics and the extent to which their needs of information are covered. In addition, additional surveys are carried out in order to acknowledge better other fields such as dissemination of the information, quality of some publications...
On the INE website, in its section Methods and Projects / Quality and Code of Practice / INE quality management / User surveys are available surveys conducted to date.(Click next link)
In the user satisfaction surveys carried out to date, the Demography and Population sector that includes this statistical operation is assessed, which could provide indications regarding users' opinion on the operation.
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12.3. Completeness
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Information required by users is made available to them, whilst respecting the confidentiality of the information.
The information covered allows for received requests to be dealt with.
100% of the results requested by the National Statistics Plan are provided
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12.1. User needs
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13.1. Overall accuracy
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The procedure for the collection, coverage control, filtration and imputation of non-response, allows for a high degree of reliability of the statistics.
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13.2. Sampling error
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Not applicable as the data is obtained in a comprehensive manner from an administrative source (entries in the civil register)
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13.3. Non-sampling error
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Delays in sending the information by some civil registers and lack of information in some variables of the bulletin. This means that this statistic has a non-response rate of approximately 0.9%
An attempt is made to reduce the non-response rate by obtaining information from the Ministry of Justice file.
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13.1. Overall accuracy
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14.1. Timeliness
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The data, both final and preliminary, for the statistics are published in November of the year following the reference year of the information, i.e., within a period of 11 months.
TP1 = 11 months.
TP2 = 11 months.
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14.2. Punctuality
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Data dissemination is carried out according to the structural statistics availability calendar prepared and published by the INE every year.
TP3=100%.
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14.1. Timeliness
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15.1. Comparability - geographical
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The processing of this statistic in all stages is the same throughout the territory. In this way, results are completely comparable for any geographical disaggregation. Furthermore, they are comparable with the rest of the countries of the European Union as the Eurostat recommendations established for all countries and agreed upon at the meetings of the working group of Demographic Statistics are followed.
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15.2. Comparability - over time
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The statistical concept of marriage has undergone the smallest change within the VS, as the same concept of marriage has been maintained, that is to say, marriages registered in the civil registry. However, an important modification was made by Law 13/2005 of 1 July (Official State Gazette of 2 July 2005), which amends the Civil Code regarding the right to marriage. In the aforementioned law, marriages are permitted between persons of the same or different sexes, with complete and equal rights and responsibilities, regardless of the composition of said marriages.
This change means that, since 2005, the Marriage Statistics include both marriages celebrated between persons of the opposite sex and marriages celebrated between persons of the same sex that were not included before the aforementioned year.
The heterosexual marriages series are available from 1900 to 2024. The series covers 125 years.
The same sex marriages series are available from 2005 to 2024 The series covers 20 years.
CC2(homo)=20
CC2(hetero)= 125
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15.3. Coherence - cross domain
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The marriage figures are coherent with those obtained by the Ministry of Justice in the civil registries.
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15.4. Coherence - internal
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Coherence between variables are compared at all stages of the statistical process.
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15.1. Comparability - geographical
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16.1. Cost and burden
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As this statistic is based on an administrative register, there is no burden on respondents.
The estimated budgetary appropriation to finance the Vital Statistics (comprised of Death Statistics, Birth statistics and Marriage Statistics), as provided for in the 2025 Annual Programme, is 5,031.64 thousand Euros.
To improve the efficiency of the production process for marriage statistics, the following measures are being implemented:
- Automation of data collection and processing: Enhancing the integration of Civil Registry records with INE’s statistical systems to reduce manual interventions and processing times.
- Optimization of validation procedures: Implementing advanced validation algorithms to detect inconsistencies earlier and minimize the need for manual corrections.
- Reduction of publication time: Exploring ways to shorten the period between data collection and publication while maintaining statistical quality standards.
- Improvement of coordination with Civil Registries: Strengthening collaboration and communication channels to ensure a smoother and more efficient data flow.
- Expansion of digital platforms: Developing more accessible digital tools for users to retrieve and analyze marriage statistics more effectively.
These initiatives aim to enhance data accuracy, reduce processing time, and ensure that statistical information remains timely and relevant for users.
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16.1. Cost and burden
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17.1. Data revision - policy
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The INE of Spain has a policy which regulates the basic aspects of statistical data revision, seeking to ensure process transparency and product quality. This policy is laid out in the document approved by the INE board of directors on 13 March of 2015, which is available on the INE website, in the section "Methods and projects/Quality and Code of Practice/INE’s Quality management/INE’s Revision policy" (link).
This general policy sets the criteria that the different type of revisions should follow: routine revision- it is the case of statistics whose production process includes regular revisions-; more extensive revision- when methodological or basic reference source changes take place-; and exceptional revision- for instance, when an error appears in a published statistic-.
The definitive data are not reviewed. They are only reviewed if there is an error in the publication.
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17.2. Data revision - practice
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17.1. Data revision - policy
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18.1. Source data
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The data used to compile this statistic come from different systems. The data are obtained from the information recorded in the Civil Registries through an application called DICIREG. This application, implemented in all Civil Registries in July 2025, records all marriages registered in Spain each year. However, in this publication, data have also been collected from the application previously used by the Civil Registry, known as INFOREG, as well as from non-digital Civil Registries. In these registries, the information was collected in a document called the Statistical Bulletin of Marriages.
With the main objective of improving the quality of information in certain classification variables, highly reliable administrative information (as of January 1 of each year) has been incorporated. Using the numerous data sources available, each spouse is assigned a province and municipality of residence, employment status, and occupation for the population aged 16 and over. To this end, information from the population pre-census files, which were prepared for the 2021 Population and Housing Census and the Annual Population Censuses from 2022 onwards, has been used.
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18.2. Frequency of data collection
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Data are collected monthly.
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18.3. Data collection
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The data used to compile this statistic come from different systems. The data are obtained from the information recorded in the Civil Registries through an application called DICIREG. This application, implemented in all Civil Registries in July 2025, records all marriages registered in Spain each year. However, in this publication, data have also been collected from the application previously used by the Civil Registry, known as INFOREG, as well as from non-digital Civil Registries. In these registries, the information was collected in a document called the Statistical Bulletin of Marriages.
The Civil Registry sends the bulletins registered in a given month to the INE on a monthly basis. At the INE, the documentation from the Civil Registry is received, processed through optical character recognition, and the fields are validated. This information is then transmitted directly to the INE’s database.
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18.4. Data validation
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During the process of editing and debugging the information, completeness and coherence of the contents of the different registers is studied.
In the particular case of recording by optical character recognition, the application includes the detection of certain errors in the bulletin information, as well as coverage control and detection of duplicate information. These errors must be corrected in the first stage for the information to be included in the marriage database. The objective is to obtain quality levels that make the later filtering and imputation processes of the processing stages faster and less expensive.
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18.5. Data compilation
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The recorded data is filtered at the national level in order to detect inconsistencies, duplicates, lack of information, etc. Following this process an automatic imputation phase is applied for variables with missing or inconsistent information. Once this stage is finished, the statistic's microdata files are obtained, from which publication tables of both marriages and the corresponding marriage rate indicators can be extracted. Furthermore, anonymised microdata files are obtained that are made available to users on the webpage
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18.6. Adjustment
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As this statistic's data come from an administrative register, no adjustments are made
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18.1. Source data
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19.1. Comment
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19.1. Comment