Kiwis getting married later in life, stats show

The number of marriages, civil unions and divorces in New Zealand is dwindling and Kiwis are getting married and divorced later in life.

The latest data from Stats NZ shows 18,744 marriages and civil unions were registered by New Zealand residents last year — a slight drop from 18,858 in 2022.

Of that number, 13,827 were firsttime marriages or civil unions, and 4911 were remarriages or civil unions.

In 2023, there were 9 marriages and civil unions per 1000 people 16 years old and over who were not previously married or in a civil union. In 2022, that rate was 9.3.

In the years since 1971, the tally of couples tying the knot or entering into a civil union has fallen from 27,201 to today’s numbers.

The number of divorces rose slightly last year to 7995 couples, up from 7593 a year earlier. But the the number of divorces has been slowly decreasing since early in the 2000s.

Last year, the divorce rate — the tally of divorces for every 1000 married or civil union couples — was 7.6, compared with 7.4 in 2022.

And Kiwis are older when they marry or enter a civil union for the first time . Last year, the median age was 30.4 for women and 31.6 for men.

Ten years ago, it was 27.7 for women and 29.5 for men, and in 1971, it was 20.8 for women and 23 for men.

The age at which Kiwis are getting divorced has risen too, over the years.

Last year, the median age at divorce was 48.1 for men and 45.5 for women, but 10 years earlier, it was 42.5 for men and 40.1 for women.

Kiwi divorce coach Bridgette Jackson, of Equal Exes, says the data shows marriages and civil unions are yet to bounce back after the “sharp decline” in 2020, when Covid restrictions delayed countless weddings.

For many New Zealand couples in 2024, a wedding isn’t necessarily a priority, Jackson explains — they may choose to focus on their careers and spend their cash on travel or saving for a home instead.

“The pattern we are seeing in general is couples entering into a longterm committed relationship at an older age and not getting married,” she tells the Weekend Herald.

Jackson says Equal Exes is seeing “multiple couples who have mutually decided to amicably separate” rather than divorcing.

“There is a pattern where, as an amicable separation, they are not in a hurry, or it is not a priority to finalise their separation with a divorce,” she explains. “Many are happy to be at the point that they are and haven’t felt the need to yet engage lawyers for the final stage.”

In 2024, she is seeing more and more clients in the “silver separation” category — Kiwi couples who married young and have split decades later.