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Published: 6 May 2011

Marriages are entered into at ever later age

According to Statistics Finland's data on population changes, women's average age at the time of entering first marriage was 30.3 years and men's 32.6 years in 2010. Year by year, first marriages are entered into at ever later age. In good four decades, women's average age at the time of entering first marriage has risen by around seven years and men's by some eight years.

Average age at the time of entering first marriage by gender 1960–2010

In 2010, the number of contracted marriages remained almost unchanged from the previous year. A total of 29,952 marriages were entered into, which is 116 more than in the year before. The share of first marriages among all marriages has remained at 77 per cent throughout the 2000s.

The share of spouses born abroad has gone up in the past couple of decades. In 2010, eight per cent of the brides of men born in Finland who entered into marriage were born abroad, whereas in the early 1990s their share was only one per cent. Respectively, seven per cent of the grooms of women born in Finland were born abroad, but in the early 1990s also only one per cent.

Nearly the same number of divorces were granted in 2010 as in the previous year. Altogether 13,619 marriages ended in divorce, which is 52 more than one year previously. The number of divorces has been rising slightly since 2007. However, the increase has been so minor that the divorce rate has remained unchanged.

Seventy per cent of the marriages that ended in divorce in 2010 were first marriages for both spouses. In 1990, the corresponding share was still 80 per cent.

In 2010, the number of registered same-sex partnerships was 322. Of them, 124 were male couples and 198 female couples. In 2009, a total of 246 same-sex partnerships were registered. A total of 64 registered same-sex partnerships ended in divorce. Of them, 22 were of male couples and 42 of female couples. In 2009, a total of 53 registered same-sex partnerships ended in divorce.

Changes in marital status and mean age of men and women at first marriage in 2001–2010

	Year
	2001	2002	2003	2004	2005	2006	2007	2008	2009	2010
Contracted marriages	24 830	26 969	25 815	29 342	29 283	28 236	29 497	31 014	29 836	29 952
Divorces	13 568	13 336	13 475	13 234	13 383	13 255	13 224	13 471	13 527	13 619
Woman's mean age at first marriage	28,7	29,1	29,2	29,7	29,6	29,7	29,9	30,2	30,2	30,3
Man's mean age at first marriage	31,0	31,3	31,5	32,1	31,8	32,1	32,3	32,5	32,5	32,6
Registered partnerships	.	446	190	186	200	191	213	249	246	322
Divorces from registered partnerships	.	2	6	15	31	30	67	45	53	64

Source: Population and Cause of Death Statistics. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Timo Nikander (09) 1734 3250, vaesto.tilasto@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Appendix tables

• Appendix table 1. Marriages and divorces 1965 - 2010 (6.5.2011)
• Appendix table 2. Marriages contracted by month 2000 - 2010 (6.5.2011)

Figures

• Appendix figure 1. Average age of women by first marriage and first live birth 1982 - 2010 (6.5.2011)
• Appendix figure 2. Marriage rate by age 1990, 2000 and 2010 (6.5.2011)
• Appendix figure 3. Divorce rate by age 1980, 1990, 2000 and 2010 (6.5.2011)
• Appendix figure 4. Accumulated divorces by the end of 2010 from marriages entered into in different years (6.5.2011)

Quality descriptions

• Quality description, changes in marital status (6.5.2011)

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Updated 6.5.2011