Marriages in Australia

Key messages

Marriage rate and number of marriages

• The marriage rate in 2024 has held steady with 2023, with a rate of 5.5 marriages per 1,000 adults in both years.
• These rates are consistent with the long-term downward trend in Australian marriage rates, with a rate of 13 marriages per 1,000 adults 50 years ago (see Figure 1, chart 1 of 2).
• The 2024 marriage rate is also consistent with the rate of marriage in 2019 (5.6 per 1,000 adults), prior to drastic falls in the marriage rate during the COVID-19 pandemic (down to 3.8 per 1,000 adults in 2020).
• 2022 is the only year that differs from the long-term downward trend in the marriage rate, with an increase to 6.1 marriages per 1,000 adults, known as the COVID-19 pandemic rebound.
• The latest marriage data released by the ABS show that 120,844 marriages were registered in 2024. This number is largely similar to the 118,439 marriages registered in 2023 and represents a return to pre-COVID-19 levels (see Figure 1, chart 2 of 2).

Figure 1: The marriage rate in 2024 shows a temporary pause in the long-term downward trend, after the drastic fall and rebound during the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing years

State variation in marriage rates

• The marriage rate varies across the states and territories. In 2024, New South Wales and Tasmania had the highest marriage rates, at 5.8 and 5.7 marriages per 1,000 resident population aged 16 years and over, respectively.
• The Northern Territory and Australian Capital Territory had the lowest marriage rates, at 3.6 and 3.9 respectively.
• In the middle were Western Australia, Victoria, Queensland and South Australia (ranging from 4.9 to 5.5). See Figure 2, charts 1 and 2.

Figure 2: The marriage rate varies across the states and territories – nevertheless, the downward trend in 2024 is evident for most states and territories

First and later marriages

• In 2024, 74% of marriages were first marriages for both partners. First marriages, as a proportion of all marriages, have been trending up since the early 2000s (see Figure 3).
• First marriages, as the proportion of all marriages, remained stable in the 1980s and 1990s until an upward trend emerged from 2003. This is likely a reflection of the rise in cohabitation without marriage, with previously married people opting for cohabitation without remarriage.

Figure 3: Around 3 in 4 marriages are first marriages for both partners, with the pattern fairly stable over the last decade
First marriages as a proportion of all marriages, 1971–2024

How old are we when we marry?

• In 2024, the median age of men who married for the first time was 31.3 years, and women’s median age at first marriage was 30.0 years.
• The median age at marriage has increased steadily since the mid-1970s (see Figure 4).
• The gap in median age at first marriage between men and women has narrowed from 2.3 years in 1980, to 1.8 years in 2000 and 1.3 years in 2024.

Figure 4: Men and women have increasingly entered their first marriage at a later age
Median age at first marriage by gender, 1971–2024
 

Living together before marriage

• Most couples now live together before getting married. This has increased greatly since the late 1970s (see Figure 5).
• In 1979, 23% of marriages were preceded by cohabitation. By 2000, it was 71%. Since 2015, the proportion has fluctuated between 80% and 83%. In 2024, 81% of couples had lived together before getting married.

Figure 5: Pre-marital cohabitation has been increasing since the late 1970s

Proportion of marriages preceded by cohabitation, 1979–2024

Religious vs civil weddings

• Around 4 in 5 marriages are performed by civil celebrants (83% of marriages in 2024).
• In 1970, most marriages were performed by ministers of religion (88%; see Figure 6). The patterns have changed considerably since then, with an increasing proportion of marriages being performed outside of a religious service. In recent years, less than one in five (16% in 2024) marriages were performed by ministers of religion.

Figure 6: Most couples have a civil celebrant conduct their marriage ceremony rather than a minister of religion

Marriages by celebrants and religious service, 1970–2024

Same-gender marriages

• There were 4,533 same-gender marriages in 2024, and another 231 marriages involving at least one non-binary gender partner. Together, 4,764 marriages were either same gender or non-binary gender, accounting for 3.9% of all marriages in 2024 (see Figure 7, chart 2 of 2)¹
• After dropping in 2020 and 2021, during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of same-gender marriages have been slowly increasing since 2022, trending toward pre-pandemic levels (see Figure 7, chart 1 of 2).
• The proportion of same-gender marriages was highest in 2018 at 5.5%. The amendments to the Marriage Act 1961 came into effect on 9 December 2017, enabling same-gender couples, with some having waited for years, to legally marry in Australia. The proportion fell between 2018 and 2021, before trending up from 2022.
• Across all years since 2018, there were more female same-gender marriages than male same-gender marriages. In 2024, female same-gender marriages accounted for 2.2% of all marriages, compared to 1.6% of male same-gender marriages.

Figure 7: Each year, there are more female same-gender marriages than male same-gender marriages

• In 2024, the median age at first marriage was 32.7 years for female same-gender marriages and 34.9 years for male same-gender marriages.
• The median age at first marriage for same-gender marriages trended down for both genders between 2018 and 2021, after which it has remained fairly stable (see Figure 8).
• The median age at first marriage for same-gender marriages was older than for all marriages, for both men and women, although the gaps have narrowed. The differences in the median age at first marriage between same-gender marriages and all marriages were notably large in 2018. This was likely due to older same-gender couples being able to marry for the first time after the change to the Marriage Act in late 2017.

Figure 8: The median age at first marriage is higher for people in same-gender marriages compared to all marriages, though the gaps have narrowed

Median age at first marriage, same-gender marriages and all marriages, 2018–24

1 The terminology in relation to gay and lesbian married couples has evolved. In annually released data on marriages and divorces, ABS used ‘same-sex’ prior to 2022 and ‘same-gender’ since 2022. The term ‘same-gender’ is used here to be consistent with the current terminology used by ABS.