An overall uptick in deaths in 2017 reflects a higher than normal fatality rate among seniors due to the winter flu epidemic. This will have a one-off effect on life expectancy, but does not compromise a longer-term upward trend, the FSO noted.
In 2017, same-sex unions also went up significantly: nearly 800 same-sex couples chose to tie the knot with a registered partnership, an increase of 8.2% on the previous year.
Same sex unions for women are notably on the rise, with 79 new partnerships registered in 2017 – a 35% increase compared to 2016.
Marriages, on the other hand, declined by 2.5% last year. All permutations are down: unions between Swiss nationals (-1.3%), mixed marriages (-3.9%), and between foreign nationals (-3.9%).
In 2017, 15,900 divorce judgements were pronounced, a decrease of 6.6% compared to the previous year. Divorces between Swiss-Swiss and Swiss and foreign spouses are down (-11.6% and -6.7% respectively). Among foreign-foreign couples, divorces rose by 5.6%.
If the trends observed in 2017 remain the same in the future, it is estimated that two out of every five marriages (38.7%) could end in divorce one day, the FSO said.
Overall births fell slightly, from 87,900 in 2016 to 87,400 in 2017 (-0.6%).
However, the short-term fertility indicator remains stable at 1.5 children per woman in 2017, as does the average age of the mother at the birth of the first child (30.8 years).
One in four registered births were out of wedlock (25.2%).
At the same time, the number of recognition cases came to 21,400, 5% more than 2016.
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.