Marriage Statistics in Australia

The Australian Bureau of Statistics last released statistics on Marriages in August 2009.  The following statistics and graphs were taken from the Australian Bureau of Statistics website.

Marriages are typically increasing since the 2001 low and in 2008 there were 118,756 marriages - the highest since 1989. (Total Marraiges)

However, after you take into account the increasing population of Australia, in 2008 there were only 5.5 marraiges per 1000 people compared to 7.0 marriages per 1000 in 1989. (Crude Marriage Rate)

Its no surprise that people are getting married older than they were in 1989. (Median Age at Marriage)

We are also waiting longer to get married the first time. (Median Age at First Marriage)

In 2008, 78.2% of people getting married had not been married previously. This is typically increasing since 2001. Of marriages in 2008, 69.8% had both partners never previously married, 16.8% had one partner previously married, 13.4% had both partners previously married. (Never Previously Married)

Since 1999, marriages performed by civil celebrants have outnumbers those performed by ministers of religion. And you are also more likely to marry at a civil ceremony if you lived together first. (Type of Celebrant)

In 2008 in Australia, median marraige age for males was 30.8 years and for females was 28.7 years.  If are a male or female and born in Italy or Greece, you are more likely to get married later in life.  You are more likely to get married earlier if you are a male born in China, or a female born in Lebanon. (Country of Birth)

In 2008, 77% of marriages were of couples who had lived together first. These couples were typically older. (Couples Living Together Prior to Marriage)

The most popular months for marriage were November then March. July was least popular.  The most popular date for a Friday marriage was 08/08/08 due to special significance given to that date in the Chinese community and then 29/02/08 most probably as it was a leap year and their anniversary will only come up ever 4 years! The most popular days of the week to get married are Saturday, then Sunday, then Friday. In 2008, most marriages occured on Saturday 4th October. (Day and Month of Marriage)

 

Its no surprise that since 1989, most marriages occured in NSW, followed by Vic, Qld, WA, SA, Tas., ACT, NT in that order.  If you live in Qld, you are more likely to get married.  You are less likely to get married if you live in NT.  You are more likely to get married by a minister of religion if you live in NSW and less likely if you live in Tas. And if you live together first, you are more likely to get married if you live in Tas. but less likely if you live in NSW. (State and Territory Data)

I'd be interested to see statistics on the amount of hours spent at weddings. eg. Elopements and Mini-Weddings as opposed to typical 8 hour Weddings.  My guess is that Elopements are on the rise.

Thanks to me following Complete Wedding Magazine's Facebook page, I found these stats.  Are you following LK Photography on Facebook yet? Updates and news are more regular on it.

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