Tel Aviv is the singles capital of Israel, but couples are happier

Ahead of Tu B'Av, Israel's Valentine's Day, which begins Thursday night, the Central Bureau of Statistics has published data on the love lives of Israelis.

According to the statistics, 65% of Israeli men and 46 percent of Israeli women aged 25-29 are single, with the average age for first marriage being 27.6 for Israeli men and 24.8 for Israeli women.

The data shows that Tel Aviv is Israel's singles capital, with 83% of male and 71% of female Tel Aviv residents aged 25-29 being single. Haifa had the next highest percentage of singles and Rishon Lezion came in third. In contrast to these cities, the percentage of singles in Ashod and Jerusalem was relatively low: 56% for men and 34% for women in Ashdod, 50% for men and 38% for women in Jerusalem.

In 2010, 47,855 couples married in Israeli courts authorized to conduct marriages, and a further 9,262 couples informed the Interior Ministry that they had married abroad. In the same year, 13,488 couples divorced, at the average age of 38.1.

Based on the data, married couples are happier with their lives than single and divorced individuals. Forty-one percent of married Israelis say they are very happy with their lives, with only 19% of divorced Israelis saying the same.

But while the percentage of married people who say they are happy always remains higher than the percentage of divorced and single people who say they are happy, in all cases the percentage of those happy with their status drops with age.

In the 20-39 age range, 49% of married people say they are very happy, compared with 44% of single people and 22% of divorced people. In the 40-59 age range, 38% of married people say they are very happy, compared with 23% of singles and 20% of divorced people.

At age 60 and above, 33% of married people say they are very happy with their lives, more than double the 16% of divorced people who say the same.