According to the data of the 2011 Population and Housing Census (PHC 2011), the share of persons living in a consensual union has increased significantly and the share of people living with a legal spouse has decreased compared to the previous, 2000 Census.
In 2011, 34.5% of the population aged 15 and older lived with a legal spouse and 15.6% lived in a consensual union. Compared to the 2000 Population Census, the share of persons living with a legal spouse decreased by 5.4 percentage points and the share of persons living in a consensual union increased by 4.7 percentage points. 38% of men aged 15 and older live with the legal spouse and 17.1% live in a consensual union, the respective indicators for women are 31.7% and 14.3%. The share of women living with the partner is smaller as the number of women in population is smaller. 428 persons were cohabiting with same-sex partner (206 men and 222 women).
Of persons living without a partner, the largest share make up those who have never been legally married (25.4%). 9.8% of persons living without a partner are divorced and 9.6% widowed. Compared to the previous Census, among persons aged 15 and older, the share of people living without a partner has increased by 0.9 percentage points. Among persons without a partner the share of women was larger (54.1%) than that of men (44.9%).
90% of men and 80% of women aged 15–24 are living without a partner. The time of starting cohabitation is between 25–34 years of age, in this age group almost half of men and nearly 61% of women live with a partner. Cohabitation with a legal spouse is the most common marital status among men and women aged 36–49. About 59% of women aged 50 and older live without a partner, but 59% of men of the same age group live with a legal spouse.
| PHC2011 | PHC2000 | |
|---|---|---|
| Persons aged 15 and older TOTAL | 1 094 564 | 1 121 582 |
| Living with a partner | 548 286 | 570 030 |
| ..living with a legal spouse | 378 026 | 447 584 |
| ..cohabiting | 170 260 | 122 446 |
| Living without a partner | 546 278 | 549 373 |
| ..separated from a legal spouse | 42 537 | 56 101 |
| ..never been legally married | 277 689 | 269 466 |
| ..divorced | 107 678 | 93 351 |
| ..widowed | 105 428 | 114 055 |
| ..legal marital status unknown | 12 946 | 16 400 |
The eleventh Population Census in Estonia was conducted from 31 December 2011 until 31 March 2012. Previous censuses were carried out in 1881, 1897, 1922, 1934, 1941, 1959, 1970, 1979, 1989 and 2000. The next Population Census in Estonia will be conducted in 2020/2021.