Marriages and Civil Partnerships 2013

The CSO today released the Vital Statistics, Marriages and Civil Partnerships 2013 report.

Some of the key points highlighted in the report are as follows:

Marriages

• There were 20,680 marriages registered in 2013, just 33 fewer marriages than 2012 when 20,713 couples married. 20,680 marriages equates to a crude (unadjusted) marriage rate of 4.5 per 1,000 of the population in 2013, the same rate per 1,000 of the population for 2012.
• The average age of the grooms in 2013 was 34.9 years, 0.2 years more than the equivalent age in 2012. The average age of brides was 32.8 in 2013, also up 0.2 from 32.6 in 2012. The average age of the groom in civil marriages was 37.6 years while the average age of the groom in Roman Catholic marriages was 33.4 years.
• August was the most popular month for marriage in 2013 when nearly 15% (or 3,071) of marriages occurred. January was the least popular month to tie the knot with 555 marriages occurring during that month in 2013.
• Friday and Saturday were the most popular days of the week to marry with 7 out of 10 marriages occurring on these days. Sunday was the least popular day to wed with only 313 couples choosing this day to wed. 
• Civil marriages accounted for over 29% of all marriages, up 1.5% from 2012. Roman Catholic marriage ceremonies accounted for over 62% of all marriages in 2013, down almost 3% from 2012.
• In almost two-thirds (63%) of marriages, the groom was older than the bride across all age groups except in the case of grooms under 25, where the bride was older in nearly 41% of marriages.
• Over 88% (18,241) of marriages were the first marriage for both the groom and bride. There were 2,230 marriages involving at least one divorced person in 2013.

Civil Partnerships

Civil Partnerships, introduced by the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010, enabled same-sex couples to obtain legal recognition of their relationship and this regulation came in to force on the 1st January, 2011.

• There were 338 civil partnerships registered in 2013, 208 male unions and 130 female unions. The average age of partners in civil partnership couples was 39.3 years, the average age of male partners being 38.5 and average age of female partners was 40.6.
• Nearly 74% (249) of the same-sex couples that entered into civil partnerships in 2013, reside in the Leinster area with 139 such couples (41%) living in Dublin City.
• Of the 676 individual partners, some 636 or 94% were previously single while 37 (5%) were divorcees.
• There was a 1 to 4 year difference in ages in over 41% of all male partnerships compared with almost 49% of female partnerships.

For further information, contact Carol Anne Hennessy on 021 453 5307 or Marie Crowley 021 453 5016.

Central Statistics Office                                          30th September 2014

– ENDS –