New statistics show that the number of marriages has dropped below 20,000 for the first time since 2001.
Findings on marriages, civil unions and divorces released by Statistics New Zealand today show that there were 19,237 resident marriages registered to New Zealand residents in 2013 – dropping below 20,000 for the first time since 2001.
Of that figure, 209 were same-sex marriages.
A further 2,416 marriages were registered to overseas residents, including 146 same-sex marriages. Around two in five same-sex marriagesare registered to couples from overseas, compared with one in nine for opposite-sex marriages – suggesting that New Zealand’s a popular choice for same-sex couples looking to tie the knot at a ‘destination wedding’.
The first same-sex marriages were held in New Zealand on August 19 last year, after the definition of marriage was expanded to include the union of two people, regardless of their sex, sexual orientation, or gender identity, under the Marriage (Definition of Marriage) Amendment Act 2013 last year. Consequently, the number of same-sex civil unions almost halved compared with the previous year, with 187 civil unions registered to residents in 2013.
The statistics also show that 8,279 married couples divorced last year; just over one-third (35 per cent) of couples who married in 1988 had divorced before their silver wedding anniversary (25 years). There are 9.4 divorces for every 1,000 estimated existing marriages in New Zealand.
In New Zealand, an application for divorce can be made by either partner on the grounds that the marriage or civil union has broken down irreconcilably, provided a two-year separation requirement is satisfied. However, couples may be separated for longer than two years before divorcing, or may separate and never formally divorce.
Last month, as part of our coverage of Value, The Wireless producer Elle Hunt asked what relevance the institution of marriage had for twenty-somethings; Stella Blake-Kelly wrote about what the passing of marriage equality meant to her on the 12-month anniversary of the law change; and we talked to a same-sex couple who have tied the knot about what’s changed for them.