Five of six men in Tel Aviv in the 25-29 age bracket (83 percent) are single, as are five of seven women in that age bracket in the coastal city, an official survey has found.

The Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS) noted that 40 years ago, only one Israeli woman in seven was still unmarried in that age bracket.

Sixty-five percent of Israeli men aged 25 to 29 are single, compared to only 28% in 1970. Of Israeli women, 43% of women aged 25 to 29 are unmarried, compared to 13% in 1970.

The cities with the highest proportion of singles in the Jewish population are Tel Aviv, Haifa and Rishon LeTzion. The lowest proportions were found in Jerusalem and Ashdod. In Tel Aviv, 83% of men and 71% of women aged 25-29 are single. In Haifa the numbers are 74% and 55%, respectively. In Rishon LeTzion they are 74% and 52%.

In Ashdod, 56% of men aged 25-29 are single and 34% of the women, and in Jerusalem the numbers are 50% for the men and 38% for the women.

The survey found that 35,887 couples were married by the Jewish religious courts in 2010. In addition, there were 10,220 religious Muslim marriages, 782 Christian ones and 894 Druze. The number of couples who married abroad and then registered the marriage in the Interior Ministry was 9,262.

The average marriage age among men getting married for the first time was 27.6. Among women it was 24.8. The average age gap between Jewish grooms and brides in first-time marriages was 2.1 years, compared to about five years in the other religions.