In 2022, the median age for the first wedding among women in the United States stood at 28.6 years. For men, the median age was 30.5 years. The median age of Americans at their first wedding has been steadily increasing for both men and women since 1998.

Men and women in Japan are getting married increasingly later than previous generations. In 2023, the average age of women who marry for the first time was about **** years, while men were on average **** years old when they first got married. Social integration of women The rising age at first marriage was partly explained by a common theory that holds the growing number of “parasite singles” accountable for the trend. The term refers to young working people aged between 28 and 40 years who decide to keep living comfortably in their parents' homes to save money. An alternative explanation is the more active participation of Japanese women in society. Increasingly more women in Japan obtain higher education degrees and focus on their career paths. With a rising income, they are financially less dependent, and marriage is no longer essential to afford the life they pursue. Delayed family planning The overall number of newly registered marriages has also declined in the past decade. The reported number of marriages was around ******* in 2023, representing the sixth consecutive years below *******. These developments concerning marriages have also impacted the mean age of childbearing, which has risen considerably since the *****.

Between the 1950s and today, the average age to marry in the Netherlands increased significantly for both genders. Whereas in 1950, men were on average 30 years old when they married and women were nearly 27 years old, in 2022 this was 39.1 and 36.4 years respectively. This raise in the average age at marriage however meant a decrease in the number of marriages per person, which decreased by almost 0.20 in the last decade alone. The average Dutch person married between 0.48 and 0.47 times in 2021.

 Number of marriages   

In 2021, roughly 56,000 marriages took place. The majority of these marriages were closed between a man and a woman, but since same-sex marriages were legalized in the Netherlands in 2001, each year also between 1,000 and 2,400 same-sex couples tie the knot. In the last decade, the number of marriages peaked in 2010, when almost 86,000 marriages took place.

Living happily ever after  

In 2021, nearly 60,000 couples celebrated 12.5 years of marital bliss, and a further 51.9 thousand couples had been married for 25 years. And of course, with time the number of special wedding anniversaries decreases, as divorce or death dissolves many a marriage. Still, that year 327 couples celebrated 70 years of wedded life together.

Mean age and median age at divorce and at marriage, for persons who divorced in a given year, by sex or gender and place of occurrence, 1970 to most recent year.

The average age at which people in England and Wales get married has been rising since the 1970s, with the average age of men marrying women increasing from **** in 1972 to **** by 2019, with the average age for women marrying men going up from **** to **** in the same time period. Since 2014 and the legalization of same-sex marriage in England and Wales, the average age for men marrying men has fluctuated between **** and ****, while the average age for females marrying females has fluctuated between **** and ****. Strong support for same-sex marriage in UK Over ten years after same-sex marriage was legalized in most of the UK, polls have shown consistent support for the legislation. As of May 2025, ** percent of Britons supported same-sex marriage, compared with ** percent who opposed it, and ***** percent who did not know. England and Wales was the first jurisdiction to allow same-sex marriages, with the first marriages taking place in March 2014, followed by Scotland in December of that year. Legislation allowing same-sex marriage was not passed in Northern Ireland until 2019, with the first marriages not taking place in 2020. Most popular wedding dates In 2022, the most popular wedding date across the entire year in England and Wales was July 30, with ***** weddings taking place that day. The next most popular wedding date was August 20, which had ***** weddings, followed by May 28, at *****. All three of these dates were Saturday's, which, at over ** percent of all weddings, was by far the most popular day of the week for weddings to be held the week. As for the most popular month, August had the most weddings held in 2022, at ******, with ****** being held in July, and ****** in June, the second, and third-most popular months for weddings, respectively.

in 2023, on average, women in Germany got married sometime after turning 32 years old. The graph confirms that marriage took place later and later every year. Various reasons may contribute to this development. Life today Women can simply afford, in various senses of the word, to marry later than before. Being unmarried, regardless of age, has mostly ceased to be stigmatized or unusual for women in Germany. This does not exclude pressure, attention or curiosity from others about the topic, or a woman’s relationship status. It also does not exclude the desire of women to get married. However, in general, attitudes have relaxed significantly in recent decades, nor are there any legal restrictions for unmarried women in terms of education, employment, healthcare, renting or owning property. Women’s life expectancy at birth has increased steadily in Germany, with the latest figures citing 83.2 years. It is also not unusual for Germans to have children outside of a marriage. In fact, figures have been climbing annually since the 1990s and in 2023, around a third of children born, were born outside a marriage. Whether this happens due to a decision made mutually, individually or other circumstances, a woman being shunned for having a child out of wedlock is definitely a thing of the past. Changing demographics Marrying at a later age than in the 1990s, when women got married in their mid to late twenties, is also part of a general demographic shift in Germany, such as the increase in single households (though it does not necessarily mean that the person is unmarried, they might be in a long-distance marriage, for example). Women may also still be studying or traveling before their thirties, preferring to concentrate on concluding these chapters in their lives before proceeding to marriage, especially if they do not yet have a full-time job.

Dataset from Singapore Department of Statistics. For more information, visit https://data.gov.sg/datasets/d_2dd0a290d283c284d0513bd5e38c7ebb/view

Since the mid-2000s the average age at first wedding in France increased gradually, for both men and women. It seems to be common for the first marriage to be celebrated later and later in Western countries. For example, the median age at first marriage in the United States went from 26.8 years old for males and 25 years old for females in 1997, up to 30.3 years old for males and 28.4 for females in 2019. Same thing occurred in Europe where Sweden was the country where the median age at first wedding was the oldest in 2019.

French people wait longer to marry

According to the source, in 2004, the average age at first wedding for French men was 30.8 compared to 28.8 for women. If men still tend to be older than women at first marriage, the average age at marriage for both males and females increased from 2004 to 2021. In 2021, men were aged on average 39.2 at their first wedding, compared to 36.8 for women. Most marriages in France happened between men and women despite the implementation of same-sex marriage in 2013. Mean age at gay marriages appear to be even older than in different-sex wedding.

Marriage and divorce in France

Thus, the percentage of married persons in France decreased since 2006, while the share of single and divorced people rose. However, in 2016, France was the second European country with the highest number of marriages behind Germany. On the other hand, like most other Western nations, France also has an important divorce rate. In 2016, the number of French divorces was of 55 per 100 marriages.

The average age at marriage was 39.9 years for men in Norway in 2023, and 37.3 years for women. Within the considered time frame, men were about three years older than women on average when marrying, and all in all the average age seems to increase. In 2023, the average age at marriage in Norway was about the same as in Denmark.

This statistic contains data on the estimated median age of Americans at their first wedding in the United States in 2021, by race and origin. In 2021, the median age for the first wedding among Asian women stood at 28.8 years.

In 2023, the average age of Italian women at first marriage was ***years. From a regional perspective, the highest average age was recorded in Emilia-Romagna, where the average age of the bride reached around ** years. Emilia-Romagna was also the region with the oldest grooms in the country. A male inhabitant of the region could get married at the average age of almost ** years. On the contrary, women from the southern regions got married earlier, at ***5 years. Every year less marriages Over the last decade, the marriage rate in Italy has steadily decreased. In 2006, there were about *** marriages celebrated per 1,000 inhabitants, more than one wedding more in comparison with the figures from 2023. Why do not Italians get married? When asked about the cause of not getting married, about ** percent of the Italian respondents who already lived with their partner replied that they do not believe in marriage. Roughly ** percent of them never felt the need to walk down the aisle. On the other hand, around ** percent of the interviewees declared that they would get married in the near future.

The average age at which Australians got married for the first time increased for both men and women between 1997 and 2021. As of 2021, males who married for the first time were on average 30.8 years old, while females were on average slightly younger at 29.4 years old.

first time marriage

Wedding bells chime

The most popular months to get married in 2017 were October and November, with many Australians opting to have their wedding in spring. In fact, over 20 percent of couples chose their wedding date based on a preference for a specific season.

In 2017, amendments to the Marriage Act meant that same-sex couples in Australia could also get legally married. This may change marriage figures in the years immediately following, with many long-term same-sex couples choosing to get married with this law change.

Happily ever after?

While the average age of first marriages has increased, the number of Australians tying the knot has decreased, with the crude marriage rate decreasing continuously across the country. The divorce rate has decreased over the years, largely related to the reduction in the number of marriages overall. In 2017, almost half of all divorces in Australia involved children; this share has not changed significantly over the past five years.

Thailand TH: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 22.100 % in 2012. This records an increase from the previous number of 19.600 % for 2006. Thailand TH: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 20.500 % from Dec 1987 (Median) to 2012, with 3 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 22.100 % in 2012 and a record low of 19.600 % in 2006. Thailand TH: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Thailand – Table TH.World Bank: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

Turkey Vital Statistics: Marriage Age: Avg: Female data was reported at 26.247 Year in 2017. This records an increase from the previous number of 26.087 Year for 2016. Turkey Vital Statistics: Marriage Age: Avg: Female data is updated yearly, averaging 22.900 Year from Dec 1940 (Median) to 2017, with 78 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 26.247 Year in 2017 and a record low of 20.800 Year in 1975. Turkey Vital Statistics: Marriage Age: Avg: Female data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by Turkish Statistical Institute. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Turkey – Table TR.G003: Vital Statistics.

As of 2023, the median age at the time of first marriage in Singapore was 31 years old for men and 29.5 years old for women. While this had remained relatively constant for men since 2014, the median age of marriage for women had been increasing, indicating a trend amongst Singaporean women in delaying marriage. More women delaying marriage and motherhood Women in Singapore are becoming more educated and are increasingly active in the workforce, resulting in many women delaying marriage and motherhood in favor of pursuing a career. This has resulted in a significant proportion of highly-educated and highly-qualified women remaining single for longer. Financial independence delayed marriage for many women Many women preferred to be financially stable before getting married, especially in light of the costs involved in holding a wedding and starting a home. The prospect of losing financial independence and sacrificing career success has also deterred many women from motherhood, leaving Singapore with one of the lowest fertility rates in the world.

In 2023, the average age of men at marriage was of 34.7. For women, this value was 31.7 years. Across the period under scrutiny, the average age at marriage has experienced an upward trend for both genders.

Vietnam VN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 10.600 % in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 9.300 % for 2011. Vietnam VN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 10.500 % from Dec 1997 (Median) to 2014, with 6 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 12.400 % in 1997 and a record low of 9.300 % in 2011. Vietnam VN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Vietnam – Table VN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

Tunisia TN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data was reported at 1.600 % in 2012. This records a decrease from the previous number of 9.700 % for 1988. Tunisia TN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 5.650 % from Dec 1988 (Median) to 2012, with 2 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 9.700 % in 1988 and a record low of 1.600 % in 2012. Tunisia TN: Women Who were First Married by Age 18: % of Women Aged 20-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Tunisia – Table TN.World Bank.WDI: Population and Urbanization Statistics. Women who were first married by age 18 refers to the percentage of women ages 20-24 who were first married by age 18.; ; Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS), AIDS Indicator Surveys(AIS), Reproductive Health Survey(RHS), and other household surveys.; ;

Dataset from Singapore Department of Statistics. For more information, visit https://data.gov.sg/datasets/d_7b8d3fbf7a741d368afb9dc49b6a2f48/view

Statistics on marriages registered under the Women’s Charter are obtained from records maintained by the Registry of Marriages. They include all civil marriages solemnized by the Registrar of Marriages, pastors of churches, priests of Hindu temples and other registered solemnizers.

Total may include marriages with attribute(s) not reported.