Marriages and divorces

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia

Division of Demography and Health Statistics

Gordana Jordanovski

Statistician - methodologist

Milana Rakica 5, Belgrade

gordana.jordanovski@stat.gov.rs

+381112412922 ext. 384

Not applicable.

• concluded marriage - municipality/foreign country where marriage is registered, date of marriage conclusion, existence of consensual unit before this marriage;
• groom and bride - previous marriage status, order of marriage, date of birth, citizenship, place of birth (municipality/foreign country of birth), nationality, highest educational attainment, economic activity and occupation of spouses;

The aim of the Annual survey on divorces is to collect data on marriages that cease by the final judgment of the court in charge of divorces (including legally divorced, also annulled or declared void marriages). The Annual survey on divorces includes data on:

In the surveys on concluded and divorced marriages are used: List of settlements in the Republic of Serbia (available on the SORS web site) and International Standard Classification of Occupations dating from 2008 (ISCO-2008).

Definitions:

Marriage is a law regulated community of life of a woman and a man (Family Law - Official Gazette of RS, No.18/2005, 72/2011 other law and 6/2015).

Divorce is a form of termination of marriage in accordance with the provisions of the Family Law - Official Gazette RS, No. 18/2005, 72/2011 other law and 6/2015.

Age of spouses is expressed in their whole living years, as the time difference between the date of birth of a person and the date of the event (marriage/divorce). From this feature, the average age of spouses at the time of marriage conclusion, the average age of spouses at the time of the first marriage conclusion are calculated in the survey on concluded marriages and the average age of spouses at the time of divorce are calculated in the survey on divorces (arithmetic mean).

Nationality. The data on ethnic affiliation of spouses are provided according to their free declaration. The Constitution of the Republic of Serbia envisages for the citizens the freedom of expression of ethnic affiliation and the option not to declare their national and ethnic affiliation.  The distribution of data by this feature was carried out in accordance with the classification of ethnic affiliation applied in the 2011 Census of population.

Educational attainment. This means the highest educational level attained by accomplishing certain schooling, regardless of whether obtained by graduating from regular school or school replacing regular, i.e. whether obtained by passing examinations in regular school or by completing certain courses of regular schooling within the formal educational system. The data on educational attainment are expressed by following categories: no formal education, incomplete primary school (1–3 grades of primary school and 4–7 grades of primary school), primary school, secondary school, (vocational) specialization after secondary school, higher school/college, university faculty/basic academic graduation, Master/MSc and PhD holders.   

Economic activity. The data on economic activity for spouses are expressed aggregated according to the following categories: person performing job paid in money or in kind or working as unpaid/supporting family worker in shop owned by household member or at family holding, person actively seeking job or trying to start private business, pensioner, person performing only housework at own household, pupil/student, person with income from real property, and other.

Occupation. By this feature aggregated are economically active persons by type of job they perform in order to earn means of sustenance. In data processing all occupations were categorized in compliance with the classification of occupations applied for 2011 Census of population.

Duration of marriage. In the statistics of divorced marriages, the duration of marriage is derived feature expressed in the years of duration of legal marriage. The number of years of duration of (divorced) marriage is calculated as the difference between the date of divorce and the date of marriage conclusion.

The number of dependent children born in this marriage. In the statistics of divorced marriages, the number of dependent children born in this marriage (the divorced marriage) includes children of divorced parents who do not have their own income for their support, regardless of where these children are and regardless of whether these children are supported by parents or someone else. Divorced marriages are grouped according to whom the children are assigned by the following five groups: husband, wife, husband and wife, other persons or institution.

Crude marriage rate: the ratio of the number of marriages during the year to the average 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 population in that year. The value is expressed per 1000 inhabitants.

Divorces per 1000 marriages: the number of divorces per 1000 concluded marriages in a given year.

Basic statistical units are concluded and divorced marriage.

Total population defined as usually resident population, which is aged 16 and over, that represents the legal limit for the conclusion of marriage or divorce.

National level: Republic of Serbia, also other lower territorial levels as regions, areas and municipalities.

Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia does not have data for the AP Kosovo and Metohija since 1998, so they are not included in the coverage of the Republic of Serbia (total) data. 

The availability of detailed data on concluded marriages for the territory of the Republic of Serbia has begun since 1950, while the detailed data on divorces in the Republic of Serbia have been available since 1952. To a small extent the comparability of data was influenced, during available time period, by the harmonization of the vital statistics methodology with applied concepts and definitions in population censuses (2002 and 2011). Also, the unavailability of data for the territory of the AP Kosovo and Metohija since 1998 prevent the comparability of some certain data from these surveys with the data from previous years (for the period prior to 1998, no conversion can be made).

Not applicable.

Data on marriages and divorces are disseminated as absolute figures and as rates.

The calendar year in which the events occurred.

National level: Law on Official Statistics (Official Gazette RS No 104/09, 24/11), Decision on Official Statistics over the period 2021-2025 (Official Gazette RS No 24/21)

EU level: Council Regulation (EU) No1260/2013

Eurostat and UN jointly collect demographic data on vital events, migrations and population estimates (UNIDEMO/POPSTAT) based on the Regulations (EU) No 1260/2013, 205/2014, 862/2007 and 351/2010.

Official Statistics Law - Article 5

Official statistics are based on common standards, official definitions and basic principles, meaning the following: Principle of confidentiality refers to the protection of data relative to individual statistical units, regardless the fact whether they are collected directly through statistical surveys or obtained indirectly, from administrative or other sources. 

The handling of data is regulated by the Rulebook on the manner and procedure of data provision produced by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

The data are published on the SORS website and in the SORS publications in accordance with the adopted Publishing Policy, and according to the Calendar of Publications for 2024:

• Statistical release Marriages and divorces SN50 with the date of publishing on 10/07/2023,
• Demographic Yearbook with date of publishing on 25/12/2023,
• Statistical yearbook of the Republic of Serbia with date of publishing on 21/10/2023,
• Municipalities and regions in the Republic of Serbia with date of publishing on 25/12/2023,
• Monthly statistical bulletin with date of publishing every 10th of the month,
• Statistical pocketbook of Serbia with date of publishing on 01/04/2023.

At the official web site of the SORS: https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/calendar

Publication policy define the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS) as the main producer and disseminator of official statistical data. This document explains in more details the availability of data, the calendar and the time of publication, the way of presenting the data. The data obtained from statistical surveys are published on the web site, in statistical releases, publications and in the dissemination database.

This area is also regulated by the Rulebook on the manner and procedure of data provision of data produced by the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia.

The data on concluded and divorced marriages are published monthly (first data on the basis of the Monthly survey on vital statistics) and annually (final data - on the basis of the Annual surveys on concluded and divorced marriages). See the Publications Calendar on the SORS's website (link provided - point 08.2.).

Statistical release - Marriages and divorces SN50

Demography statistics in the Republic of Serbia is the form of a special statistical publication in which the results of vital statistics are published. Also, Statistical Yearbook of the Republic of Serbia, Municipalities and regions in the Republic of Serbia, monthly statistical bulletins are publications available at: https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/oblasti/stanovnistvo

At the official SORS web site it is available on-line database in which the data on concluded and divorced marriages in the Republic of Serbia are published for the period 2002-2023. The data are available in the group Population, under the indicator Marriages and divorces.

Access to microdata is regulated by the Procedure for enabling access to individual data without an identifier (anonymized microdata).

Ad hoc prepared data for users according to their requirements (telephone and written).

Published methodological materials in the form of Instructions for Registrars and Instructions for Judges, also Encryption Codes, are available on the SORS website at: https://www.stat.gov.rs/en-US/istrazivanja/methodology-and-documents/?a=18&s=0

Not applicable.

The quality management system of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia (SORS) relies on the Mission and Vision of Official Statistics of the Republic of Serbia, the European Statistics Code of Practice (CoP) and the Total Quality Management (TQM) principles, which are common Quality Framework of the European Statistical System (ESS).

The principles of the quality policy of the SORS are customer orientation, quality of statistical processes and products, strengthening cooperation with data providers and professional development and employee satisfaction.

Reporting the quality of statistical products: The basic source of product quality information are quality reports, which include information on quality indicators. The production of up-to-date quality reports is provided through the RZSMETA system.

Reporting the quality of the statistical process: the application of the General Statistical Business Process Model (GSBPM), as a standard tool that describes and defines a set of business processes required for the production of official statistics, provides a standard framework and harmonized terminology. This enables the modernization of statistical production processes, the exchange of methods and components, and the integration of data and metadata standards, as a template for process documentation, for the harmonization of statistical computer infrastructure, as well as for providing a framework for assessing and improving the quality of the process.

Demographic statistics on the size and structure of population are used in a wide range of economic and social researches and various policy areas, having in mind that demographic trends and events have a strong impact on the society. In this sense, data users are different ministries, local self-governments, research and education institutions, individual researchers, students, journalists and others.

A general user satisfaction survey is conducted every two years and the results are available on the SORS website (latest results for 2023). Average overall score for 2023 is 4.13. 

No user' satisfaction surveys have been carried out at the level of surveys on concluded and divorced marriages. 

Statistical surveys on concluded marriages and divorces are in line with the provisions of the Family Law of the Republic of Serbia (Official Gazette of RS, No. 18/2005, 72/2011 - other law and 6/2015). 

Statistical surveys on concluded marriages and divorces are in line with the EU regulation No1260/2013 on European demographic statistics and with the Principles and Recommendations for the Vital Statistics System - Revision 3, of the United Nations.

Data on concluded marriages and data on divorces are taken from records of administrative sources, which are municipal registrar services and the network of Basic Courts. Part of the statistical data is obtained by additional method of interviewing the persons at the moment of events in these services (statements of persons), which to a lesser extent affects the incomplete or inadequate quality of data on persons who have concluded the marriage or whose marriage is divorced.

It is not applicable since the surveys on concluded and divorced marriages are conducted on the total population.

Part of the statistical data is obtained additionally by the method of interviewing a person at the moment of events in the administrative sources (statement of a person), which to a lesser extent affects the incomplete or inadequate quality of data on persons who have concluded the marriage or whose marriage is divorced.

For national purposes, data are published six months after the reference period on annual basis. Deadline for data transfer to Eurostat is December 31 current for the previous year.

The data obtained from the survey on concluded and divorced marriages are published in accordance with the defined deadlines in the Publications Calendar.

Data on concluded marriages and divorces are based on the legal civil status of a person defined by the Family Law of the Republic of Serbia, which ensures their comparability at the national level. The data from these surveys are comparable to the data from respective surveys in other European countries.

Starting from 1998. the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia has not at disposal and may not provide available certain data relative to AP Kosovo and Metohija and therefore these data are not included in the coverage for the Republic of Serbia (this note is given in all publications of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia).

The data on concluded marriages have been available since 1950 and the detailed data on divorces have been available since 1952. Bearing in mind that vital statistics surveys harmonize with concepts and definitions applied in population censuses, the comparability was slightly affected by the change in the concepts and definitions of the total population (the concept of permanent population in Census 2002 and the concept of usual resident population in Census 2011 were also applied in the vital statistics). These changes in concepts and definitions are explained in publications in which the data vital statistics are published.

Since 1998, the SORS does not have data for the AP Kosovo and Metohija, some data from the survey on marriages and divorces cannot be converted to the current situation (without the AP Kosovo and Metohija), therefore some data are not comparable during the entire period of conduction of these surveys (in the case of derived indicators, such as the average age of spouses, etc.).

There is no other comparable statistics on marriages and divorces.

The methodology of vital statistics is in line with the methodology used in the population censuses, which enable the links between census data and vital statistics data.

There is no complete consistency between the published previous data (monthly data) and final data (annual data). Monthly data are processed according to the place of registration, and annual according to place of residence. In addition, these differences are also inevitable given the possibility of delay in reporting on a monthly basis (from abroad in relation to concluded marriages) and the inability to process and publish it in accordance with the defined publication date in the Publications Calendar. Also, the approach in processing and preparation of monthly (previous) data and annual (final) data varies in that the monthly data are processed without any subsequent imputation, which is the usual procedure for processing the annual (final) data.

Financial resources for conducting the surveys on concluded and divorced marriages are provided from the Budget of the Republic of Serbia. The costs calculation is done on the basis of the cost for printing and distributing the forms and the number of hours (value) that all employees spend working on these surveys.

There is no information on the burden on the reporting units participating in these surveys.

The basic principles and standards for conducting revisions of published statistical data are defined in the General Revision Policy of the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia. The general audit policy of the SORS is fully aligned with the guidelines in the ESS Guidelines on Revision Policy, which was adopted by the European Statistical System Committee.

The revision of the methodology in vital statistics is carried out in a ten-year period after the conduction of each Census of Population, Households and Dwellings in order to apply harmonized concepts and definitions. Also, it is done the harmonization of methodology with the Eurostat and the UN Principles and Recommendations for a Vital Statistics System.

Timeframe of the basic stages in conducting the survey on concluded marriages:

1. Preparation and printing of forms: September - November,

2. Sending forms to regional departments by November 31 (reporting units by December 31),

3. Reporting units send fulfilled forms to the SORS, every 3rd of the month (monthly collecting),

4. Checking and sending the correct data in electronic form by regional departments to the SORS by April 1,

5. Logical and computational control, tabulation and production of results (on annual basis), publication of results in the SORS until July 10th.

Timeframe of the basic stages in conducting the survey on divorces:

The collection of data for the Annual survey on concluded marriages and the Annual survey on divorces is done on a monthly basis. As data collection instruments, the following forms are used:

• Statistical form on concluded marriage - DEM-3 and
• Statistical form on divorced marriage - RB -1.

The data are partially taken from the records of the municipal registry offices and from the Basic courts (reporting method), and additionally for the collection of part of the data from the above forms, the method of interviewing is used in the mentioned services (where, based on the statements of persons, are received information on the highest educational attainment, economic activity, the presence/absence from the country, the existence of an consensual unit before marriage).

Since 2018, the paper form RB-1 in the survey on divorced marriages has been replaced by electronic ones generated in the Judicial Information System, i.e. the transition to electronic download of data on divorces from Basic courts to the Statistical Office of the Republic of Serbia at the end of each month.

Аdditionally the Monthly survey on vital statistics (the form DEM-5) collects data on registered cases of marriage conclusion or divorce according to the place of registration (on the basis of the forms DEM-3 and RB-1). These data are collected every 15th of the month and published as preliminary results.

In the Annual survey on concluded marriages and the Annual survey on divorces, manual and automatic validation of data completeness is performed. Also, data validation (in both surveys) is based on the results of the previous year.

Controlled data entry and processing is done in the IST program (developed in the SORS), where logical control and corrections of entered data аrе performed. Unknown at certain key data is solved by imputation of data in accordance with the recommendations and in line with the acceptable percentage for unknown value in certain variables.

Based on the results of the Population estimates (mid-year population) it is done the calculation of the crude marriage rate and the crude divorce rate.

Not applicable.

No additional notes.