-
THURSDAY, JANUARY 12, 1978
RECORD NUMBER OF MARRIAGES LAST YEAR
******
THE NUMBER OF MARRIAGES REGISTERED LAST YEAR REACHED A RECORD 40,383 - 683 OR 1.7 PER CENT MORE THAN THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 39,700 IN 1976.
ACCORDING TO MARRIAGE STATISTICS RELEASED BY THE REGISTRAR GENERAL'S DEPARTMENT TODAY THE INCREASE WAS MAINLY RECORDED DURING THE FIRST QUARTER OF THE YEAR WHEN 10,728 MARRIAGES WERE CELEBRATED AS COMPARED WITH 9,010 DURING THE SAME PERIOD IN 1976 - A GAIN OF ABOUT 19 PER CENT.
A SPOKESMAN FOR THE DEPARTMENT SAID THIS WAS PROBABLY DUE TO THE FACT THAT JANUARY AND THE FIRST HALF OF FEBRUARY WERE STILL WITHIN THE LUNAR YEAR OF THE DRAGON, THE MOST POPULAR YEAR FOR MARRIAGES AMONGST THE CHINESE.
+ANOTHER MAJOR FACTOR CONTRIBUTING TO THE OVERALL INCREASE IS BELIEVED TO BE THE STRUCTURE OF THE POPULATION WHICH NOW HAS A LARGE NUMBER OF PERSONS WITHIN THE MOST POPULAR AGE GROUPS FOR MARRIAGE THAT IS FROM 21 TO 24 FOR WOMEN AND 25 TO 29 FOR MEN, HE ADDED.
LAST YEAR'S TOTAL ALSO INCLUDED 4,541 MARRIAGES BETWEEN PARTIES PREVIOUSLY MARRIED TO EACH OTHER, GENERALLY BY CHINESE CUSTOMARY CEREMONIES, AS COMPARED WITH 4,098 MARRIAGES OF THIS CATEGORY IN 1976.
EXCLUDING THESE 'RE-MARRIAGES', THE SPOKESMAN SAID, THE TOTAL NUMBER OF REGISTERED MARRIAGES INCREASED BY 240 FROM 35,602 TO 35,942.
THE NUMBER OF CHURCH MARRIAGES LAST YEAR FELL BY 426 TO 2,502 AS COMPARED WITH THE PREVIOUS RECORD OF 2,928 IN 1976.
MOST OF THE REGISTERED MARRIAGES WERE, AS USUAL, CELEBRATED AT THE MARRIAGE REGISTRIES. THE TOTAL OF SUCK MARRIAGES WAS 37,881 1,109 MORE THAN THE 1976 FIGURE.
IN THE NEW TERRITORIES, REGISTERED MARRIAGES SHOWED A SLIGHT DECREASE DURING THE YEAR WITH A TOTAL OF 7,871 MARRIAGES CELEBRATED, DOWN BY 369 OR 4.5 PER CENT AS COMPARED WITH 8,240 IN 1976. THERE ARE NOW FOUR FULL-TIME AND FOUR PART-TIME MARRIAGE REGISTRIES OPERATING IN THE NEW TERRITORIES.
THE TWO PRINCIPAL MARRIAGE REGISTRIES AT THE CITY HALL AND THE KOWLOON GOVERNMENT OFFICES REMAIN THE MOST POPULAR ONES, WITH 35.7 PER CENT OF ALL REGISTRY MARRIAGES CELEBRATED THERE. NEXT WAS THE SAN PO KONG REGISTRY, WHERE 6,858 MARRIAGES TOOK PLACE DURING THE YEAR.
THE CITY HALL MARRIAGE REGISTRY CONTINUED TO OPEN ON SUNDAY MORNINGS DURING THE YEAR AND A TOTAL OF 545 MARRIAGES WERE PERFORMED ON SUNDAYS.
THE SPOKESMAN SAID IN MANY CASES, SUNDAY WAS CHOSEN FOR MARRIAGES BECAUSE IT HAPPENED TO BE A LUCKY DAY IN THE CHINESE CALENDAR WHILE IN OTHER SIMPLY BECAUSE OF CONVENIENCE FOR WORK OR OTHER REASONS.