Statistics South Africa's latest report reveals a significant decline in registered marriages coupled with a notable rise in divorces in 2024.
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South Africa recorded a decline in all types of registered marriages and unions in 2024, while divorces increased, according to the latest Marriages and Divorces 2024 report released by Statistics South Africa (Stats SA).
The report shows that a total of 97,510 civil marriages were registered in 2024, alongside 2,634 customary marriages and 2,229 civil unions. All three categories recorded year-on-year declines.
“Registered civil marriages, customary marriages, and civil unions decreased by 1.8%, 25.5%, and 3.0% respectively,” Stats SA said.
Civil marriages remained the most common form of union, with most couples marrying for the first time. The data indicates that 77.4% of bridegrooms and 84.5% of brides had not been previously married.
Gauteng and the Western Cape continued to dominate marriage registrations, accounting for 24.1% and 23.0% of civil marriages respectively.
The figures also highlight shifting age patterns. The median age for civil marriages rose to 39 years for men and 35 years for women. In customary marriages, the median ages were lower at 35 for bridegrooms and 29 for brides, while civil unions recorded median ages of 35 and 34 for partners.
More than half of customary marriages were concentrated in Limpopo and KwaZulu-Natal, which together accounted for 54% of registrations. Civil unions, by contrast, were heavily concentrated in Gauteng, which recorded 42.3% of such unions.
While fewer couples formalised unions, the number of divorces moved in the opposite direction.
Stats SA processed 24,202 completed divorce forms in 2024, reflecting an 8.9% increase from 22,230 in 2023.
Women were more likely to initiate divorce proceedings, accounting for 13,853 cases, or 57.2%, compared to 7,976 cases (33.0%) filed by men.
The median age at divorce was 46 years for men and 42 years for women, indicating that many separations occur later in life.
However, the data also points to instability in shorter marriages. “Four in ten divorces (41.7%) of the 24,202 in 2024 were from marriages that lasted for less than 10 years,” the report noted.
Stats SA cautioned that divorce figures may be revised in future releases, as not all cases finalised in 2024 had been processed at the time of the report's publication.
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