Australia’s divorce rate has increased for the first time since Covid while fewer people got married last year, new figures show. Source: News.com.au.
There were 118,804 marriages in 2025, a drop of 1.7 per cent, or 2040, on the previous year, according to data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday.
The marriage rate, or the number of marriages in the year per 1000 people aged over 16, dropped from 5.5 in 2024 to 5.3 in 2025.
“Around 3.9 per cent of all marriages last year were between partners of the same sex or including a person who was non-binary, a figure which has stayed consistent over the last three years,” the ABS added.
The divorce rate, meanwhile, rose slightly from 2.1 to 2.2 last year.
It’s the first increase since 2021, at the height of Covid, when the divorce rate shot up from 2.4 to 2.7.
The long-term trend for divorces is still down, however — in 2005 the divorce rate was 3.3.
In 2025, there were a total of 49,158 divorces, a 4.1 per cent rise. The median duration of marriages, from marriage to separation, rose from 9.3 to 9.4 years.
All age groups saw decreases in marriage rates, with the largest falls among those aged 25-29 and 30-34.
The median age for marriage among males was down slightly to 32.7 years, and unchanged at 31.2 years for females.
The median age at divorce increased for both sexes — 47.3 years for males and 44.4 years for females.
NSW, South Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory all saw an increase in marriages. South Australia led the charge with a 4.6 per cent increase.
Marriage numbers fell in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia and Australian Capital Territory, with Victoria recording the sharpest fall of 5.7 per cent.
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Divorce rate rises for first time since Covid, fewer marriages in 2025 (By Frank Chung, News.com.au)
