State of World Population 2012 - Country Page List - UNFPA

Consensual unions account for an increasing
proportion of live-in partnerships, which
tend to be less stable than formal marriages. In
Latin America and the Caribbean, more than
one in four women between the ages 20 and
34 live in a consensual union (United Nations,
Department of Economic and Social Affairs,
2009). This arrangement is less common in
sub-Saharan Africa and Asia where about 10 per
cent and 2 per cent of women live in consensual
unions, respectively. The percentage of women
in consensual unions ranges from nearly zero
to 30 in 16 developed countries. In a majority
of countries with available data, the percentage
of women in consensual unions peaks between
ages 25-29 (United Nations, Department of
Economic and Social Affairs, 2009).
Globally, the proportion of adults who are
divorced or separated doubled (from 2 per cent
to 4 per cent) between 1970 and 2000. Divorce
and separation are more common in developed
countries than in developing countries.
According to the World Marriage Data for 2008,
11 per cent of women were divorced or separated
in developed countries whereas only 2 per cent of
women of the same age were divorced or separated
from their husbands in developing countries
(United Nations, Department of Economic and
We’re here! Per cent distribution of young people, as per cent of
world population by region
45%
11%
0-14 15-24 25-59 Over 60
17%
27%
Regions
Africa
World
Latin America
and the Caribbean
Asia
Oceania
North America
Europe
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Source: United Nations, Department of Economic and Social Affairs, Population Division (2011).
52 CHAPTER 3: CHALLENGES IN EXTENDING ACCESS TO EVERYONE