Marriage Continues To Fall Out Of Favour

The number of couples tying the knot in 2024 continues the trend towards fewer marriages and civil unions, according to figures released by Stats NZ today.

In 2024, there were 18,033 marriages and civil unions celebrated by couples living in Aotearoa New Zealand. This was 4 percent lower than in 2023 (18,744 marriages and civil unions), and 14 percent lower than in the 1990s (an average of 20,950 marriages per year).

"The marriage rate has fallen from one generation to the next, with a range of factors contributing to this, including changing views of marriage, and economic factors," population estimates, projections, and coverage spokesperson Rebekah Hennessey said.

"Marriage is no longer seen as the only or necessary path for a committed relationship - there are higher proportions of people in de-facto relationships than a decade ago, and more recently, around half of babies born have parents that are not married."

In 2024, there were 8 marriages per 1,000 people eligible to marry, less than half of the rate in the 1990s when it was 18 per 1,000, and one-fifth of the rate in the 1960s when there were around 39 marriages per 1,000.

The general marriage rate measures how trends in marriage change relative to those eligible to marry in the underlying population. People eligible to marry are those aged 16 years and over who are not married or in a civil union.

Fewer divorces in 2024

In 2024, 7,497 couples were granted a divorce from their marriage or civil union. This was 6 percent lower than in 2023 (7,995 divorces), and 21 percent lower than in the 1990s (an average of 9,500 divorces per year).

"With fewer people marrying, a decline in divorces is to be expected. Additionally, changing views of marriage, and people being older on average when they do marry, may mean that those who do marry are making more intentional choices, potentially reducing the chance of divorce," Hennessey said.

When looking at the divorce rate, out of every 1,000 marriages, there were 7.5 divorces in 2024, down from around 12 divorces per 1,000 in the 1990s.

"Marriage and divorce rates are useful for comparing change over time rather than comparing rates directly, as the marriage rate is based on people who are not married while the divorce rate is based on couples that are married," Hennessey said.

Marriage and divorce data can be more easily compared using the proportion of marriages ending in divorce. Couples need to have been separated for at least two years before they can apply for a divorce, with marriage duration including the time that a couple was separated.

"Around 1 in every 20 marriages ends in divorce within five years, while 1 in every 3 marriages ends in divorce by the 25th wedding anniversary," Hennessey said.

"Conversely, around 60 percent of couples remain married for the rest of their lives."

Fewer marriages driven by lower numbers of remarriages

The declining number of marriages since the 1990s has been mostly driven by fewer people remarrying than people marrying for the first time. In one-quarter of marriages in 2024 at least one person in the couple had been married before. This is down from just over one-third of marriages in the 1990s.

"Marriages can end through divorce or the death of a spouse, with the data indicating that fewer individuals in these situations are opting to remarry," Hennessey said.

"Among those who remarry, about 90 percent were previously divorced, so a decline in divorces corresponds with a decline in remarriages."

Decreases in the number of remarriages have been more noticeable over the last two decades. In the early 2000s, there were around 7,500 remarriages, compared with 4,560 in 2024, a decrease of 39 percent. In comparison, the number of first marriages has remained similar over this time (13,200 in the early 2000s, and 13,467 in 2024).