The following statistics relate to marriages in Australia during 2023. They were released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on 16.8.24.
Key statistics
- 118,439 marriages were registered in 2023. This equated to 6.9% fewer than the record high of 127,161 in 2022 (post COVID.)
- The most popular marriage date was 11.11.23, with 1,799 marriages on that day. Interestingly, this is known in Australia as Remembrance Day.
- The number of divorces granted in 2023 fell 1.1% to 48,700.
Marriages
There were 118,439 marriages registered in Australia in 2023, down from the record high of 127,161 marriages registered the previous year but well above COVID-19 pandemic related lows in 2020 and 2021.
The crude marriage rate (the number of marriages divided by the population aged 16 and over) was 5.5 marriages per 1,000 people 16 years and over in 2023, comparable to the 5.6 recorded in 2019 before the pandemic.
The median age at marriage has increased to 32.9 years for males (from 32.5 years in 2022) and 31.2 years for females (from 30.9 years in 2022).
There were 4,558 marriages registered for couples of the same or non-binary gender, comparable to the 4,593 registered in 2022. Marriage between people of the same sex or gender was legislated from December 2017.
Total marriages registered across all states & territories
2019 – 113,815
2020 – 78,987
2021 – 89,167
2022 – 127,161
2023 – 118,439
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Note: Restrictions put in place during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic had a direct impact on marriages in 2020 and 2021. Comparisons to other years should be treated with caution.
NSW, where most of my weddings take place, experienced one of the largest declines (after the ACT) in marriages registered which equated to 13.2% fewer. It should be noted that NSW recorded a higher than usual number of marriages in 2022 after the COVID-19 related restrictions in 2020 and 2021.
Further information on this topic can be obtained by visiting the Australian Bureau of Statistics website here.
115 – 02/09/2024 – ©Lindy Cooke Celebrant