Latest trends in marriage and divorce, according to new statistics

With 2018 coming to a close, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released a summary of Marriages and Divorces in Australia throughout 2017.

Key Findings in the Report

Marriage Rate in Australia

The data highlighted that 112,954 marriages were registered in 2017; a drop of 5,447 (4.6%) compared with 2016. The crude marriage rate also decreased from 4.9 marriages per 1,000 population in 2016 to 4.6 marriages in 2017.

Age of Marriage

The age of both males and females at the point of marriage had increased on the previous year. In 2017, the average age at marriage for men was 32.0 years, a slight rise from the recorded 31.9 years in 2016. For women, the median age of marriage went from 29.9 in 2016 to 30.1 years old in 2017.

First-Time Marriage

Of those who married in 2017, 80.9% of brides and 79.3% of grooms were getting married for the first time.

Divorce Rate

In 2017, there were 49,032 divorces granted, up 5.2% (or 2,428 divorces) on the previous year. The divorce rate in Australia increased from 1.9 divorces to 2.0 per 1,000 population in 2017. However, as a whole, the Australian divorce rate is on the decline when compared with the figure of 2.7 per 1,000 recorded a decade ago.

Age at Separation & Divorce

The ABS reported the average male was 41.8 years old when they separated in 2017; the same figure that has been recorded since 2015. The highest proportion of separations among females occurred when they were 39.0 years old, falling slightly from 39.1 in 2016.

At divorce, both median ages for men and women stayed the same to the previous year; men at 45.5 years old and women at 42.9 years old. Compared with a decade ago, the median age of divorce for men and women has risen by five years: from 40.3 to 45.5 for males, and 37.6 to 42.9 for females.

Duration of Marriage to Divorce

The median length of marriage for divorcing couples remained stable at an average of 12 years.

NSW records the highest share of same-sex weddings

Although the report focuses on 2017’s figures, there was an early release of 2018 data in connection with same-sex couples. Between December 2017 – when parliament amended the Marriage Act 1961 to allow same-sex couples to marry – and June 2018, 3,149 same-sex weddings were held.

New South Wales accounted for the highest share of weddings in those six months at 34.6% (1,090 registered marriages). This was followed by Victoria at 26.2% (or 826 marriages) and Queensland at 18.9% (or 595 marriages).

Of the 3,149 same-sex weddings, the ABS reported 56.3% were between women with a median age of 39 years. There were 1,057 people 60 years or over that registered a same-sex marriage in this period, with 86 men and 33 women being older than 75.

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