Europe's couples marrying less and less
But although Europeans overall are marrying less, people in some countries are marrying a lot less than in others, as national differences across the continent remain marked, the study by France's National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) found.
The survey of 20 European countries found that couples in Europe break up more readily than they used to.
Despite experiencing relationships and cohabitation before marriage, couples are apparently no better equipped to get along once they do tie the knot.
In general, the report says, a higher cohabitation rate is matched by a higher divorce rate.
In the Mediterranean region, people are traditionally more inclined to continue living with their parents for longer, a trend that is on the rise.
Among women born in the mid-1960s, only 60 percent had flown the family nest by age 25 in Spain, and only two-thirds in Italy and Portugal, compared with 98 percent in Sweden.
In 2003, more than half of Swedish, Belgian and Finnish marriages could be expected to end in divorce, as against less than a fifth in Greece and Italy.