As you know we’re all about weddings and marriage so when we got our hands on the latest Australian marriage statistics from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) we were thoroughly interested in the results!
It turns out Australians still love walking down the aisle with 123,244 marriages registered in 2012 – a record high! This is an increase of 1,492 (1.2%) from the previous year. In fact Aussies have been embracing marriage over the last decade with a steady increase in the number of marriages since 2001.
We’re also making the most of our single twenties with the median age at marriage for males in 2012 at 31.4 years, while on average females are slightly younger at 29.4 years. We’ve seen this trend in age for some time now and the ABS reports that the median age at marriage has remained stable for both males and females in recent years.
Most Aussies aren’t going to the chapel and they’re not going to get married there. Civil celebrants performed 71.9% of marriages in 2012. Marriages performed by civil celebrants have increased over the past 20 years and ABS reports that civil marriages have outnumbered religious ceremonies since 1999. In 2012, ministers of religion performed 34,613 marriages.
It’s no surprise really that 77.6% of couples who registered their marriage in 2012 had lived together prior. 71.8% of marriages in 2012 were between a bride and groom never previously married. A further 16.4% were first marriages for one partner, while 11.8% were remarriages for both partners.
In 2012 the most popular months to be married were March with 15,193 marriages followed by November with 14,666 marriages. Compare this to the least popular month, July, with only 5,582 marriages. So if you’re planning a March or November wedding it’s best to get in early!
In summary weddings are still very much a part of the Australian way of life and we’re going to keep celebrating LOOOOVE! So join us on Facebook, Instagram, Google+ & Twitter OR check out celebrations of real love here.
For more statistics relating to marriages in Australia head to the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
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{All statistics sourced from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Image: Illustration by Maria Pizzirusso }