Total marriages drop back after post-pandemic highs

There were 118,439 marriages registered and 48,700 divorces granted in Australia in 2023, according to new data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

James Eynstone-Hinkins, ABS head of marriages data said: “Marriage numbers have dropped 6.9 per cent from the record high of 127,161 in 2022, after two years when nuptial plans were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

In New South Wales and Victoria, marriage numbers went down by 13.2 and 10.3 per cent respectively, while Western Australia and South Australia saw their numbers go up 16.8 and 7.1 percent.

“It’s clear many couples needed to postpone their plans to get married during the pandemic, and this is seen not only in numbers but in higher median ages at marriage,” Mr Eynstone-Hinkins said. 

“Median ages have historically been very stable, but when compared with 2019, they were up 0.6 years to 32.9 for men, and 0.7 years to 31.2 for women. 

“The most popular day to marry in 2023 was once again in spring. The day to ‘remember’ was 11 November, with 1,799 couples marrying on this date.” 

There were 48,700 divorces granted in Australia, down 1.1 per cent. This represented a small drop in the crude divorce rate from 2.4 divorces per 1,000 people aged 16 years and over in 2022 to 2.3 in 2023.

The median age at divorce was also higher in 2023 than 2019, up by 1.2 years to 47.1 for men and up by 1 year to 44.1 for women. This was driven by a fall in divorces among younger people.