Bosnia and Herzegovina is recording a decline in the number of marriages and a simultaneous increase in divorces, according to data from the BiH Agency for Statistics.
In 2019, more than 18,900 marriages were concluded, while in 2023, that number fell to just over 17,000. At the same time, the number of divorces increased and in 2023 amounted to 3,048.
Lawyers warn that even the data for last year do not indicate an improvement, while the trend of increasing divorces extends back several years; in 2016, every seventh marriage concluded in the Federation of BiH ended in divorce.
Sociologist Smiljana Vovna points out that changes in society, new values in the family and changing roles of women contribute to this trend: “Women today are educated, socially recognized and are not able, as it used to be, to be taken for granted that they are at home, raising children and waiting for their husbands when they return from work.”
Psychologist Mira Vilušić adds that greater investments in raising children and ensuring material existence could contribute to a better state. She also emphasizes the importance of sexual education in schools: “If I, who was educated in the last century, had sexual education, I wonder why our youth in the 21st century do not?”
Lawyer Damir Alić states that the reasons for divorce generally do not change, with adultery in the first place, but also the economic situation, addictions and other problems. He also points out that the diaspora returns more and more frequently through divorces: “Another phenomenon where our diaspora most often returns to us and divorces in Bosnia and Herzegovina, primarily due to costs, and we also have an increase that is noticeable in everyday life.”
According to Alic, the view on marriage as an institution has also changed, and divorces are especially affecting young couples. He warns that the trend of divorce growth will continue in 2024: “That divorce is really experiencing an expansion that exceeds previous years.” The data shows that divorces also affect the elderly, with the oldest man to divorce being 86 and the oldest woman 80.
