Marriages and Divorces, Australia

Latest release

National and state statistics on marriages and divorces, including same-gender couples

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Reference period
2024
Release date and time
23/07/2025 11:30am AEST

Key statistics

  • 120,844 marriages were registered in 2024, 2.0% more than in 2023.
  • The most popular date to marry was 24/02/2024, with 1,773 marriages on that day.
  • The number of divorces granted in 2024 fell 3.0% to 47,216.  

Marriages

There were 120,844 marriages registered in Australia in 2024, 2.0% higher than the 118,439 marriages registered in 2023 but 5.0% lower than the record high of 127,161 marriages registered in 2022 after pandemic restrictions eased.

The crude marriage rate in 2024 (the number of marriages divided by the population aged 16 and over) was unchanged from 2023 at 5.5 marriages per 1,000 people. This is comparable to the pre-pandemic rate in 2019 of 5.6 marriages per 1,000 people. 

The median age at marriage for males in 2024 was 32.8 years, a slight decrease from the 32.9 years recorded in 2023, but higher than the 32.5 years in 2022. The median age at marriage for females was unchanged at 31.2 years in 2024.

There were 4,746 marriages registered in 2024 for couples of the same or non-binary gender, up by 4.1% from the 4,558 marriages registered in 2023. Marriage between people of the same sex or gender was legislated from December 2017.

Selected marriage indicators, 2020-2024 (a)(b)(c)(d)
  20202021202220232024
Total marriages registered (no.) (a)78,98789,167127,161118,439120,844
Crude marriage rate (b)3.84.36.15.55.5
Median ages 
 Median age at marriage, male (years)32.232.132.532.932.8
 Median age at marriage, female (years)30.630.530.931.231.2
Marriages of the same gender 
 Male marriages of the same gender (no.) (c)1,1161,0751,7671,7351,893
 Female marriages of the same gender (no.) (c)1,7851,7702,6672,6192,622
  1. Restrictions put in place during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic had a direct impact on marriages in 2020 and 2021.
  2. Crude marriage rates reflect the number of marriages registered during the year per 1,000 of estimated resident population aged 16 years and over, as at 30 June for the same year.
  3. In September 2021, marriage registration forms were updated to record gender including male, female and non-binary. Prior to 2022, sex was collected on marriage registration forms. Comparisons should be treated with caution.
  4. Refer to the methodology for more information.
  1. 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.
  2. Crude marriage rates reflect the number of marriages registered during the year per 1,000 of estimated resident population aged 16 years and over, as at 30 June for the same year.
  3. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Marriages by state and territory

For marriages registered in 2024:

  • New South Wales, Victoria and Western Australia registered more marriages in 2024 than in 2023, with the other five jurisdictions registering fewer marriages.
  • Victoria recorded the highest increase with 2,234 (7.5%) more marriages in 2024 than in 2023, while New South Wales had the second highest increase with 641 (1.6%) more marriages. These increases follow substantial declines in 2023 from the record high numbers for these states in 2022.  
  • Western Australia registered 246 (1.9%) more marriages in 2024 than 2023, which followed a 16.8% increase in marriages in 2023 from 2022.
  • The largest percentage declines in marriages registered in 2024 were in the Northern Territory (7.1% fewer), Tasmania (5.7% fewer) and South Australia (3.6% fewer). 
Number of marriages by state and territory of registration, 2020-2024 (a)(b)(c)
 20202021202220232024
NSW27,60927,31444,95339,01839,659
Vic.16,62818,74033,23129,81632,050
Qld15,91721,62725,01423,82623,595
SA5,4296,7787,2687,7827,500
WA9,56110,30511,23713,12013,366
Tas.2,0162,3282,8212,5062,364
NT549796819794738
ACT1,2781,2791,8181,5621,554
  1. Marriage data is based on the state or territory of registration rather than usual residence.
  2. Restrictions put in place during the first two years of the COVID-19 pandemic had a direct impact on marriages in 2020 and 2021.
  3. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Marriages by date of occurrence

  • In 2024, marriages followed a similar pattern to 2023. Higher numbers of marriages occurred in autumn and spring, while lower numbers occurred in winter and over the Easter and Christmas periods.
  • The most popular date to marry in 2024 was 24/02/2024 with 1,773 marriages.
  • Other popular dates were 20/04/2024 (1,605 marriages), 06/04/2024 (1,580 marriages) and 12/10/24 and 26/10/24 (both with 1,579 marriages).
  • Close to 55,000 marriages occurred on a Saturday. The top 42 dates to get married fell on a Saturday.
  • Friday is the second most common day to get married, with just over 20,000 marriages occurring on this day. The most popular date to get married on a Friday was 08/03/2024 with 655 marriages occurring.
  • Popular dates that occurred on days other than Fridays or Saturdays were 29 February (Thursday and 457 marriages occurring) and 24 April (Wednesday and 515 marriages occurring).
  1. Data is presented by the date the marriage occurred. A proportion of marriages occurring in a year are not registered until subsequent years.
  2. This graph includes marriages registered and received by the ABS in 2024. Totals will differ to data by year of registration.
  3. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Divorces

In 2024:

  • 47,216 divorces were granted in Australia, down 3.0% from the 48,700 divorces granted in 2023.
  • The crude divorce rate was 2.1 divorces per 1,000 people, down from 2.3 in 2023.
  • The median duration of marriages (from marriage to divorce) increased to 13.2 years (from 13.0 years in 2023).
  • The median age at divorce has remained the same compared with 2023 at 47.1 years for males and 44.1 years for females.
Selected divorce indicators, 2020-2024(a)(b)(c)
  20202021202220232024
Divorces granted (absolute) (no.) (a)49,51056,24449,24148,70047,216
Crude divorce rate (b)2.42.72.42.32.1
Median duration 
 Median duration of marriage to separation (years)8.48.48.99.09.3
 Median duration of marriage to divorce (years)12.112.212.813.013.2
Median ages 
 Median age at divorce, male (years)45.645.946.747.147.1
 Median age at divorce, female (years)42.843.043.744.144.1
  1. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia have advised that the high number of divorces finalised in 2021 is in part related to administrative changes. This constitutes a break in time series and any comparison with earlier years should be made with caution.
  2. Crude divorce rates reflect the number of divorces granted during the year per 1,000 of estimated resident population aged 16 and over, as at 30 June that year.
  3. Refer to the methodology for more information.
  1. The Federal Circuit and Family Court of Australia have advised that the high number of divorces finalised in 2021 is in part related to administrative changes. This constitutes a break in time series and any comparison with earlier years should be made with caution.
  2. Crude divorce rates reflect the number of divorces granted during the year per 1,000 of estimated resident population aged 16 and over, as at 30 June that year.
  3. Refer to the methodology for more information.

Data downloads

1. Marriages and Divorces (Australia) 2024

Data files
Download xlsx [186.91 KB]

Previous catalogue number

This release previously used catalogue number 3310.0

Methodology

Marriages and Divorces, Australia methodology, 2024