The total number of Turkish citizens who married foreigners increased from 22,737 to 28,654 in 2021, compared to the previous year, according to the Turkish Statistical Institute (TurkStat). Foreign grooms, who totaled 3,828 and generated a 0.8% share in total marriages in 2020 reached 4,976 and took a 0.9% slice in total marriages last year. The number of foreign brides rose from 18,909 to 23,687 in 2021, yearon-year. Their share in total marriages surged from 3.9% to 4.2% in the same period. The number of married couples, which totaled 488,335 in 2021, jumped to 561,710 in total last year. The total number of couples who were divorced climbed by 37,515 from 136,570 to 174,085 in 2021, as compared to 2020. The crude marriage rate, which means the number of marriages per 1,000 people in total population, saw 6.68 per 1,000 people while the crude divorce rate indicating the number of divorces per 1,000 people in the total population was 2.07 per 1,000 people in the country last year. 165,937 children were affected by the divorce of their parents in 2021, up by 41,195 from a year ago. The mean age for the first marriage was 28.1 for males and 25.4 for females last year. The figure was 27.9 for males and 25.1 for females in 2020.
