Fewer marriages
Published:
A total of 22 500 couples married in 2016. This is about 1 000 fewer than the average for the preceding ten years. A total of 9 300 couples divorced, and 10 800 separated.
- Full set of figures
- Marriages and divorces
- Series archive
- Marriages and divorces (archive)
Figur 1. Marriages, divorces and separations¹
Marriages | Divorces | Separations | |
1975 | 25898 | 5406 | 6943 |
1976 | 25389 | 5648 | 7237 |
1977 | 24022 | 5912 | 7497 |
1978 | 23690 | 6063 | 7486 |
1979 | 23055 | 6441 | 8271 |
1980 | 22230 | 6466 | 8641 |
1981 | 22271 | 6937 | 9183 |
1982 | 21706 | 6973 | 9843 |
1983 | 20803 | 7472 | 9942 |
1984 | 20537 | 7781 | 10079 |
1985 | 20221 | 8090 | 10193 |
1986 | 19873 | 7813 | 10117 |
1987 | 20285 | 8342 | 10616 |
1988 | 20806 | 8689 | 11307 |
1989 | 19950 | 9163 | 12480 |
1990 | 21123 | 10055 | 12825 |
1991 | 19065 | 10164 | 12350 |
1992 | 18627 | 10106 | 12146 |
1993 | 18897 | 10805 | 11928 |
1994 | 19999 | 10795 | 11883 |
1995 | 21079 | 10184 | 11975 |
1996 | 22605 | 9839 | 11142 |
1997 | 23050 | 9827 | 11487 |
1998 | 22464 | 9227 | 11607 |
1999 | 23600 | 9147 | 11912 |
2000 | 25510 | 10083 | 12940 |
2001 | 23152 | 10338 | 12810 |
2002 | 24252 | 10494 | 13076 |
2003 | 22565 | 10807 | 12820 |
2004 | 22546 | 11092 | 13249 |
2005 | 22584 | 11102 | 12818 |
2006 | 21948 | 10658 | 12212 |
2007 | 23738 | 10330 | 11483 |
2008 | 25349 | 10216 | 11836 |
2009 | 24582 | 10308 | 12017 |
2010 | 23577 | 10311 | 11800 |
2011 | 23135 | 10261 | 11294 |
2012 | 24346 | 9987 | 11137 |
2013 | 23410 | 9774 | 10944 |
2014 | 22887 | 9556 | 10824 |
2015 | 22738 | 9306 | 10507 |
2016 | 22537 | 9345 | 10842 |
A total of 278 same sex couples married in 2016; 121 between two men and 157 between two women. From the year before, this was a decrease of 30 marriages between women, while the number of marriages between men was about the same. From 1993 to 2005, there were more partnerships between men than between women, whereas from 2006 there were more partnerships/marriages between women than between men.
Figure 2. Registered partnerships 1993-2008. Marriages of two persons of the same sex 2009-2016
Men | Women | |
1993 | 115 | 41 |
1994 | 86 | 47 |
1995 | 64 | 34 |
1996 | 80 | 47 |
1997 | 74 | 43 |
1998 | 71 | 44 |
1999 | 82 | 62 |
2000 | 78 | 76 |
2001 | 108 | 77 |
2002 | 105 | 78 |
2003 | 116 | 88 |
2004 | 107 | 85 |
2005 | 97 | 95 |
2006 | 102 | 125 |
2007 | 110 | 157 |
2008 | 90 | 134 |
2009 | 105 | 178 |
2010 | 97 | 167 |
2011 | 93 | 166 |
2012 | 102 | 167 |
2013 | 90 | 162 |
2014 | 106 | 163 |
2015 | 113 | 187 |
2016 | 121 | 157 |
Fewer first-time marriages
Compared to 2015, the first-time marriage rate for both men and women aged 20-44 years fell, while women and men aged 45-54 years saw a slight increase. The marriage rate is still high in the age group 30-34 years for both men and women, and the average age for first-time marriages in 2016 was 34.6 years for men and 31.9 years for women.
Figure 3. Marriage rates for first time married males in selected age groups
1977 | 1978 | 1979 | 1980 | 1981 | 1982 | 1983 | 1984 | 1985 | 1986 | 1987 | 1988 | 1989 | 1990 | 1991 | 1992 | 1993 | 1994 | 1995 | 1996 | 1997 | 1998 | 1999 | 2000 | 2001 | 2002 | 2003 | 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2010 | 2011 | 2012 | 2013 | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |
20-24 years | 86 | 81 | 72 | 65 | 61 | 56 | 48 | 44 | 39 | 35 | 32 | 30 | 26 | 24 | 20 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 7 | 7 |
25-29 years | 130 | 125 | 118 | 113 | 109 | 100 | 94 | 89 | 84 | 79 | 76 | 75 | 67 | 68 | 58 | 54 | 53 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 53 | 49 | 48 | 51 | 44 | 46 | 42 | 39 | 38 | 35 | 36 | 36 | 38 | 36 | 34 | 35 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 29 |
30-34 years | 75 | 73 | 73 | 69 | 68 | 66 | 63 | 63 | 61 | 59 | 62 | 61 | 59 | 63 | 55 | 54 | 50 | 52 | 54 | 59 | 59 | 56 | 56 | 62 | 55 | 57 | 53 | 53 | 51 | 50 | 53 | 55 | 52 | 50 | 45 | 47 | 45 | 44 | 43 | 41 |
35-39 years | 34 | 33 | 34 | 33 | 33 | 31 | 32 | 31 | 35 | 29 | 34 | 34 | 32 | 37 | 32 | 31 | 30 | 33 | 34 | 38 | 38 | 39 | 41 | 45 | 40 | 42 | 39 | 38 | 40 | 38 | 43 | 46 | 43 | 39 | 37 | 39 | 37 | 35 | 33 | 33 |
40-44 years | 18 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 13 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 19 | 15 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 19 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 18 | 18 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 25 | 24 | 25 | 25 | 25 | 28 | 31 | 28 | 26 | 26 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 |
45-49 years | 9 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 8 | 7 | 8 | 8 | 11 | 7 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 10 | 10 | 8 | 9 | 11 | 11 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 17 | 15 | 16 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 20 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 16 | 16 | 16 |
Figure 4. Average age of marriage among first time married¹
Men | Women | |
1974 | 25.3 | 22.8 |
1975 | 25.3 | 22.9 |
1976 | 25.5 | 22.9 |
1977 | 25.7 | 23.1 |
1978 | 25.9 | 23.2 |
1979 | 26.1 | 23.6 |
1980 | 26.2 | 23.6 |
1981 | 26.3 | 23.7 |
1982 | 26.5 | 24.0 |
1983 | 26.8 | 24.3 |
1984 | 27.0 | 24.4 |
1985 | 27.5 | 24.9 |
1986 | 27.5 | 24.9 |
1987 | 27.9 | 25.3 |
1988 | 28.1 | 25.5 |
1989 | 28.3 | 25.8 |
1990 | 28.8 | 26.2 |
1991 | 29.0 | 26.4 |
1992 | 29.2 | 26.6 |
1993 | 29.4 | 26.9 |
1994 | 29.8 | 27.2 |
1995 | 30.0 | 27.6 |
1996 | 30.5 | 28.0 |
1998 | 30.6 | 28.3 |
1998 | 31.1 | 28.6 |
1999 | 31.6 | 28.9 |
2000 | 31.8 | 29.2 |
2001 | 32.0 | 29.3 |
2002 | 32.2 | 29.5 |
2003 | 32.5 | 29.7 |
2004 | 32.9 | 30.0 |
2005 | 33.2 | 30.4 |
2006 | 33.4 | 30.6 |
2007 | 33.7 | 30.8 |
2008 | 34.1 | 31.2 |
2009 | 33.8 | 31.0 |
2010 | 33.8 | 30.9 |
2011 | 34.0 | 31.1 |
2012 | 34.1 | 31.3 |
2013 | 34.2 | 31.4 |
2014 | 34.3 | 31.6 |
2015 | 34.4 | 31.8 |
2016 | 34.6 | 31.9 |
Unchanged number of divorces
The number of divorces was at the same level as in the previous year, while there were 335 more separations than in 2015. A total of 78 couples of the same sex divorced and 96 same-sex couples separated.
Low divorce rate
The divorce rate, which is the number divorced per 1 000 married and separated persons in the population was 9.7 for men and 10.2 for women in 2016. For women, the divorce figure was highest for those aged 40-44, and for men, the rate was highest for those aged 40-49.
In 2016, the parents of 8 500 children below the age of 18 divorced, and the corresponding figure for separating parents was 11 600. Statistics Norway does not have figures for cohabitants with children who separate.
-
More tables and numbers in the statistics Marriages and divorces
Contact
-
Kirsten Dybendal
-
Laila Holmen Lystad
-
Eva Hoel
-
Oppdrag befolkningsstatistikk
-
Statistics Norway's Information Centre