Data on marriages presented in this special release were obtained from the Office of the City/Municipal Registrars throughout the region and submitted to the Philippine Statistics Authority - Regional Statistical Services Office Cordillera Administrative Region (PSA-RSSO CAR) through the Decentralized Vital Statistics System (DVSS) 2021 of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA)-Provincial Offices (POs) of the Cordillera region. Information presented included marriages registered for the year 2012 to 2021. Figures presented herein are still preliminary and may differ in the final counts.

Registered Marriages Rebounds by 51 percent

• The reported number of registered marriages for the year 2021 was 7,481 revealing an increase of 51 percent compared with previous year’s figure of 4,945.
• Marriages registered over a ten-year period declined by 29.6 percent from 2012 to 2021.
• Figure 1 depicted a downward trend from 2012 to 2021, with level shifts in 2017 and 2018.  In 2020, the number of marriages was recorded at 4,945 making it the lowest over the 10 year period.

Figure 1. Number of Registered Marriages: CAR, 2012 to 2021

Registered Marriages by Place of Occurrence

• The province of Benguet including Baguio City posted the highest number with 50 in every 100 registered marriages in the Region.
• Nearly 14 per 100 marriages was recorded in Ifugao, which came second.
• Apayao has the least registered marriages with 526 or 7 percent of the total registered marriages in the Region.

Figure 2. Number of Registered Marriages by Place of Occurrence: CAR, 2021

Women Marry at an Early Age than Men

• In 2021, most brides and grooms in the Cordillera Administrative Region are between the age group 25-29 with 37.8 percent and 39.4 percent respectively.
• Marriages involving teenage brides were four times more than marriages with teenage grooms.
• There were sixty two recorded marriages between seniors, sixty years old and over.
• The youngest age that a bride got married was 14 while the oldest age was 79. Whereas for grooms, the youngest age that they got married was 16, and 81 being the oldest.

Figure 3. Registered  Marriages by Age Group: CAR, 2021

Marriages Peak in December 2021

• On the average, approximately 20 marriages were solemnized in a day in CAR for the year 2021.  Moreover, the month of December recorded the highest daily average with 39 marriages.
• The top five months with recorded marriages took place in December with 16 percent, followed by March with 10.5 percent, June with 9.7 percent, January with 9.4 percent and May with 9.2 percent.
• The least registered marriages occurred in February with 411 marriages.
• The lowest daily average were recorded in September and October, with 14 marriages each.

Table 1. Registered Marriages by Month: CAR, 2021

Most of the Marriages in the Region are performed through Civil Rites

• Of the total 7,481 registered marriages in the region, 4,243 or 56.7 percent were conducted in the Office of the Mayor or Judges, while 3,237 or 43.3 percent chose to get married thru other religious ceremonies.
• There were 1,379 registered marriages in Roman Catholic ceremonies, while 1,825 marriages were celebrated thru other Christian religious rites.
• There were 16 marriages done thru muslim (islam) ceremonies , while 13 tribal rites were registered.

Figure 4. Registered Marriages  by Type of Ceremony: CAR, 2021

Municipalities with most number of Registered Marriages

• Among the Municipalities in the Region, La Trinidad, Benguet had the most number of marriages registration with 7.2 percent or 536 marriages. It was followed by Itogon, Benguet with 4.0 percent,  Tuba, Benguet with 3.2 percent, Buguias, Benguet with 3.1 percent and Mankayan, Benguet with 3.0 percent registered marriages.

Table 2. Top Fifteen Municipalities with Most Number of Registered Marriages

Municipalities with least number of Registered Marriages

• The province of Abra has the most municipalities with the least number of registered weddings, ranging from 3 to 12 for the year 2021.

Table 3. Top Ten Municipalities with Least Number of Registered Marriages