3310.0 - Marriages and Divorces, Australia, 2010 Quality Declaration 
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 30/11/2011   
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Contents >> Marriages >> AGE-SPECIFIC MARRIAGE RATES

AGE-SPECIFIC MARRIAGE RATES

Age-specific marriage rates provide a more detailed picture of the age at which people marry. These rates give an indication of the proportion of all males or females in a particular age group who married in a given year. Further information on calculating age-specific marriage rates is provided in the Glossary and Explanatory Notes 34-36 and 45.

For both males and females, the highest age-specific marriage rates were in the 25-29 year age group, with 43.7 marriages per 1,000 males, and 50.4 marriages per 1,000 females in 2010. However, both of these rates were lower in 2010 than they were in 2009. Since 1990, the 25-29 year age group recorded the highest age-specific marriage rate for males.

Age-specific marriage rates increased for males in the 45-49 year age group, whilst rates among all other age groups remained steady or experienced a decrease. The age-specific marriage rates for females increased for the 30-34 year age group, while all other age groups decreased or reported no change.

The male age groups recording the largest increases in marriage rates over this period were the 30-34 year age group, which increased from 27.7 per 1,000 in 1990 to 35.7 per 1,000 in 2010; and the 35-39 year age group, which increased from 15.0 per 1,000 in 1990 to 19.9 per 1,000 in 2010.

Since 1990, the 20-24 year age group has moved from the highest age-specific marriage rate for females (66.0 marriages per 1,000 population) to the third highest age-specific marriage rate in 2010 (28.4 marriages per 1,000 population). The female age groups recording the largest increase in marriage rates over this period, are the 30-34 year age group, which increased from 20.8 marriages per 1,000 population in 1990 to 31.4 per 1,000 in 2010, and the 25-29 year age group, which increased from 44.8 marriages per 1,000 population in 1990 to 50.4 per 1,000 in 2010.

1.5 Age-specific marriage rates(a), Selected years - 1990-2010
Age Group (Years)
1990
2000
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
Males
16-19
2.5
1.3
0.7
0.9
0.8
0.9
0.8
20-24
44.0
25.6
18.3
17.8
17.3
17.0
16.1
25-29
54.1
51.6
46.3
46.0
45.0
44.0
43.7
30-34
27.7
33.6
36.7
36.5
36.6
35.8
35.7
35-39
15.0
17.3
19.5
19.7
20.1
19.9
19.9
40-44
9.9
10.5
11.1
11.3
11.4
11.5
11.4
45-49
7.8
7.6
8.1
8.1
8.1
7.9
8.1
50 and over
3.6
3.6
3.6
3.7
3.7
3.6
3.5
Females
16-19
13.1
6.2
3.7
3.7
3.5
3.6
3.5
20-24
66.0
43.0
32.2
31.6
30.5
29.8
28.4
25-29
44.8
51.9
51.7
51.6
52.1
50.8
50.4
30-34
20.8
27.1
31.3
31.1
30.9
30.9
31.4
35-39
11.2
13.2
14.9
15.4
15.3
15.2
15.0
40-44
7.6
8.1
8.4
8.5
8.6
8.6
8.5
45-49
6.3
6.2
6.2
6.5
6.6
6.4
6.3
50 and over
1.9
2.0
2.1
2.1
2.1
2.0
2.0
(a) Marriages per 1,000 estimated resident population of males or females, respectively, at 30 June.








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