Of the 2,552 weddings celebrated in 2018, just over 55 per cent were civil, whilst it transpires that more couples were separating than celebrating their vows in the Church.

There were 1,423 civil weddings last year, compared to 1,129 Church weddings, Prime Minister Joseph Muscat told Labour MP Byron Camilleri, in a parliamentary question on Monday.

Justice Minister Owen Bonnici also told Labour MP Etienne Grech that the average number of marriage separation cases started every day in Malta is 3.6.

In his reply, Bonnici said that there were 290 amicable separations, 907 letters of mediation in contentious separations and 114 applications for separation cases.

In Gozo, a total of 47 marriage separation cases were started during the last year, or an average of four per month.