Marriages, civil unions, and divorces: Year ended December 2018
Marriage and civil union statistics record the number of marriages and civil unions registered in New Zealand each year, and divorce statistics record the number of divorces granted in New Zealand each year.
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Key facts
Marriages and civil unions
In 2018:
- 20,949 marriages and civil unions were registered to New Zealand residents. Of these, 510 were same-sex marriages or civil unions.
- 15,009 were first marriages or civil unions, 5,916 were remarriages or civil unions, and 24 couples (both same-sex and opposite-sex) transferred between a civil union and a marriage.
- The number of marriages and civil unions remained very similar to the annual average over the last 20 years.
- The general marriage rate was 10.8 marriages and civil unions per 1,000 people aged 16 years and over who are not married or in a civil union (transfers between a marriage and civil union are excluded). This rate fell slightly from the previous year and continues a long downward trend.
- An additional 3,120 marriages or civil unions were registered to overseas residents. Of these, 384 were same-sex marriages or civil unions.
Divorces
In 2018:
- 7,455 couples were granted divorces in New Zealand.
- There were 7.7 divorces for every 1,000 estimated existing marriages and civil unions, down from 8.4 in 2017.
- The decreasing divorce rate coincided with a decrease in the number of children whose parents divorced. There were 5,598 children under 17 years whose parents were granted a divorce, down from 7,578 in 2008, and 9,429 in 1998.
Number of marriages increases slightly in 2018, but marriage rate slows down
New Zealand residents registered 20,949 marriages and civil unions in the December 2018 year, up slightly from 20,685 in 2017. This is the highest number of marriages and civil unions since 2012, when there were 20,823.
In 2018, there were an additional 3,120 marriages and civil unions in New Zealand involving overseas residents.
The general marriage rate in 2018 was 10.8 per 1,000 people aged 16 years and over who are not married or in a civil union. This is around one-quarter of the 1971 peak, when the rate was 45.5.
In 2018, 20,436 opposite-sex New Zealand couples and 510 same-sex New Zealand couples married or formed a civil union.
Civil unions
The number of civil unions celebrated by New Zealand residents decreased significantly after same-sex marriages came into effect in 2013. Between 2005 (when civil unions were introduced) and 2013, there were on average just under 300 civil unions a year. This dropped to just under 60 a year between 2014 and 2018.
Five years of same-sex marriages in New Zealand
It has been just over five years since same-sex marriages were first celebrated in New Zealand in August 2013.
Since August 2013, the average number of same-sex marriages registered to New Zealand residents and overseas residents was around 900 a year. This is 3.5 percent of the average total marriages (23,335) over this time.
In 2018, 375 same-sex marriages were registered in New Zealand to overseas residents, down from the peak of 495 in 2017. This decrease coincided with the introduction of same-sex marriages in Australia from December 2017.
New Zealanders marrying later in life
In 2018, the median age at first marriage or civil union was 29.2 years for women and 30.4 years for men, compared with 26.7 and 28.6, respectively, in 1998. Although the median age at first marriage has increased over the last 20 years, most of the increase occurred before 2004. In 1971, when marriage rates peaked, the median age at first marriage was 20.8 years for women and 23.0 years for men.
Divorces drop below 8,000 for first time since 1980
In 2018, the Family Court granted divorces to 7,455 couples. This was 7.7 divorces for every 1,000 estimated existing marriages and civil unions.
The last time the number of divorces was below 8,000 was in 1980 when the divorce rate was 9.0. This was before an initial sharp increase in divorces in the early 1980s after the passing of the Family Proceedings Act 1980, which allowed for the dissolution of marriage on the grounds of irreconcilable differences. In 1982, divorces had a temporary high of 12,396. Since 2004, the number of divorces has generally declined.
Age at divorce has generally been increasing over the years, partly reflecting the trend toward later marriages. The median age at divorce in 2018 was 44.4 years for women and 46.8 years for men, compared with 37.9 years and 40.5 years, respectively, in 1998.
More data
Use Infoshare to select the following categories for marriage, civil union, and divorce tables:
Subject category: Population
Group: Marriage and divorce rates – DMR
Group: Marriages, civil unions, and divorces – VSM
Definitions and metadata
Marriages – DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce marriage statistics, and related metadata.
Civil unions – DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce civil union statistics, and related metadata.
Divorces – DataInfo+ gives the general methodology used to produce divorce statistics, and related metadata.
Media enquiries
Lennard Gui
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media@stats.govt.nz
Technical enquiries
Rebekah Hennessey
04 931 4600
info@stats.govt.nz
ISSN 1178-055X
Next release
Marriages, civil unions, and divorces: Year ended December 2019 will be released in May 2020.