Census: 65 thousand more married women than married men in Russia

The number of married women exceeds the number of married men in Russia by 65 thousand, said State Statistics Committee head Vladimir Sokolin citing results of the 2002 census in a press conference earlier this week. He added that according to the previous census in 1989 the number of married women was greater than the number of married men by 28 thousand. 'It seems that women take the responsibilities of marriage more seriously,' said Sokolin. The number of married couples in Russia dropped from 36 million to 34 million from 1989 to 2002.

Sokolin said 3 million couples were not officially registered at the time of the census. Moreover, the State Statistics Committee did not count the number of gay marriages. According to the latest census of 1000 people age 16 and older, 210 were never married compared to 161 people in the 1989 census. 572 were married at the time of the census compared to 653 in 1989. 114 were widowed compared to 110 in 1989. 94 people were divorced compared to 71 in 1989.

The 2002 census counted Russian citizens, foreigners and individuals without citizenship who were located in Russia at the time of the census. It also counted Russians who were temporarily outside the country during the census.