The stats don’t lie. The number of couples choosing to marry or enter into a civil union in New Zealand continues to fall. I’m not sure whether these figures are really a surprise, but my elopement calendar is fuller than ever. So what do these statistics even mean?
According to the latest figures released by Stats NZ, in 2024, there were 18,033 marriages and civil unions with couples living in New Zealand. This is 4 percent lower than in 2023 (18,744 marriages and civil unions), and 14 percent lower than in the 1990s (an average of 20,950 marriages per year).
Stats NZ population estimates, projections, and coverage spokesperson Rebekah Hennessey said, “The marriage rate has fallen from one generation to the next, with a range of factors contributing to this, including changing views of marriage, and economic factors.”
“Marriage is no longer seen as the only or necessary path for a committed relationship – there are higher proportions of people in de-facto relationships than a decade ago, and more recently, around half of babies born have parents that are not married,” Rebekah said.
Interesting stuff. And this is where I come in. Rebekah suggests that “economic factors” are a reason people are choosing not to marry. Many of my couples opt for an elopement or micro wedding package because of cost. They know exactly what they’re getting and there are never any unexpected expenses.
But couples also choose to elope because it’s an easy, carefree way of getting married. There’s no stress. There’s just good times! (Self promotion at its finest haha)
So, yes, the general rate of marriage is certainly on the decline but the elopement rate is absolutely soaring! (Out of pure curiosity, I wish there were stats that broke down the marriage ceremony types: ie. elopement, micro wedding, traditional wedding etc.)
Wanna read some more stats?
In 2024, there were eight marriages per 1,000 people eligible to marry, less than half of the rate in the 1990s when it was 18 per 1,000, and one-fifth of the rate in the 1960s when there were around 39 marriages per 1,000.
Fewer divorces in 2024: In 2024, 7,497 couples were granted a divorce from their marriage or civil union. This was 6 percent lower than in 2023 (7,995 divorces), and 21 percent lower than in the 1990s (an average of 9,500 divorces per year). But with fewer people getting married, a decline in the number of divorces is expected.
Rebekah said, “Around 1 in every 20 marriages ends in divorce within five years, while 1 in every 3 marriages ends in divorce by the 25th wedding anniversary.”
“Conversely, around 60 percent of couples remain married for the rest of their lives.”
Fewer marriages driven by lower numbers of remarriages: The declining number of marriages since the 1990s has been mostly driven by fewer people remarrying than people marrying for the first time. In one-quarter of marriages in 2024 at least one person in the couple had been married before. This is down from just over one-third of marriages in the 1990s.
“Among those who remarry, about 90 percent were previously divorced, so a decline in divorces corresponds with a decline in remarriages,” Rebekah said.
Decreases in the number of remarriages have been more noticeable over the last two decades. In the early 2000s, there were around 7,500 remarriages, compared with 4,560 in 2024, a decrease of 39 percent. In comparison, the number of first marriages has remained similar over this time (13,200 in the early 2000s, and 13,467 in 2024).
