Ukrainians Register 2762 Marriage Contracts in 2024: Trends and Insights

Last year, Ukrainians registered 2762 marriage contracts, which is 7% more than in 2023. However, this figure is still significantly lower than pre-war figures: in 2021, a record 4099 contracts between spouses were concluded.

This is stated on the Opendatabot platform.

According to the resource, there is currently one marriage contract for 54 marriages, while in 2023 this proportion was even lower - 1 contract for 72 marriages.

As explained by Talina Kravtsova, partner at Asters, Ukrainians are more likely to enter into prenuptial agreements to settle property issues in the future. This is especially true for couples in which one of the spouses is a foreigner, as for many foreigners such a document is a prerequisite for marriage.

Infographic by Opendatabot

At the same time, the war has not reduced the demand for marriage contracts among Ukrainians. However, legal practice shows that the courts do not yet have a unified position on the possibility of changing the status of property acquired before the conclusion of the contract, which creates risks of challenging the contract.

Another ground for invalidating a contract may be a situation where the agreement puts one of the spouses in an "extremely unfavorable" financial position, for example, when all property is transferred to the other party. In such cases, the courts usually recognize such contracts as illegal.

In total, 150,210 marriages were concluded in Ukraine in 2024, 19% less than in 2023 and 30% less than in 2021. The average monthly number of marriages amounted to 12,500 couples, the lowest figure in the last decade.

In March 2022, the Cabinet of Ministers simplified the procedure for marriages with military personnel in their absence during registration by submitting an application certified by their supervisor.

It should be noted that in February 2023, the Ministry of Justice reported that the number of marriages in Ukraine increased by four percent last year, which was a record for the last three years.

The number of divorces through civil registry offices and marriage contracts has significantly decreased.

Ірина Глухова