Marriages and divorces, 2010

Even if the number of marriages decreased slightly from the year before there were many who got married in 2010. Except for the last four years and some years around 2000 the number of marriages has never been as high since the 1970s.

A total of 72.4 per cent of the marriages were between first time married males and females, a share which has been at the same level dating back to the mid-90s. At the end of the 1960s, the share of first time married was higher; 89 per cent.

Most females aged 25-29 got married

There has been a decrease in the marriage rate in all age groups for both males and females from 2009-2010.

The marriage rate is first time married per 1 000 mean population of never married. For females who got married for the first time, the marriage rate was highest in the age group 25-29 years. For the previous five years, the rate was highest in the age group 30-34 years, and is now decreasing for females. The rate for females in the age group 30-34 years is still high, and is similar to the rate for females in the age group 25-29 years. For males, the marriage rate is still high in the age group 30-34 years, as for the years since 1995.

The slight decrease in marriage age from 2008 to 2009 continues for females, but is unchanged for first time married males from 2009 to 2010. The average age for first time married males was 33.8 years and 30.9 years for females in 2010. This is a decrease of 0.1 years for females compared to the year before.

10 200 divorces and 11 700 separations

The number of marriages dissolved by divorce is at the same level as the year before. The number of separations was also roughly unchanged.

The divorce rate, which is divorced per 1 000 married and separated, was still highest for males in the age group 40-44 years, as for the previous five years. For females, the divorce rate is steadier in all age groups between 25 and 44 years.

In 2010, 10 000 children had parents who got divorced, and 13 200 children below 18 years had parents who separated.

264 couples of the same sex got married

During the second year of the new Marriage Act, 264 couples of the same sex got married; 97 were between males and 167 were between females. In the first year of the new Marriage Act, there were 283 couples of the same sex who got married. When the Act about registered partnerships came into force in 1993 it was mostly males who registered their partnership, but since 2006 it has been mostly women who have registered their partnership/got married among same sex couples.

A total of 68 partnerships; 30 between males and 38 between females, were converted to marriages in 2010. Since 2009, 721 couples of registered partners have converted to marriages.

At the turn of the year there were 2 291 registered partners in Norway; a decrease of 1 738 from the two previous years. This decrease is for the most part connected to the conversion from partnership to marriage in the last two years.

The average age of the oldest and youngest spouses in marriages between same sex couples was 38.8 years and 33.5 years respectively.

Tables:

• Table 1 Marriages, by county. 1966-2010
• Table 2 Divorces and separations. County. 1981-2010
• Table 3 Marriages contracted. Marriages between different sex. 1950-2010
• Table 4 Marriages contracted, by type of marriage. 1961-2010
• Table 5 Marriages. Marriages between different sex , by previous marital status of the spouses. 1961-2010
• Table 6 Average age at marriage. Marriages between different sex. Males and females. 1961-2010
• Table 7 Marriage rates for first time married males and females in selected age groups. Marriages between different sex. 1961-2010
• Table 8 Marriages dissolved. Separations. 1961-2010
• Table 9 Divorce rates for males and females in different age groups. Divorces between different sex. 1959-2010
• Table 10 Number of children involved in divorces. Divorces between different sex. 1971-2010
• Table 11 Divorces by number of common children and duration of marriage. Divorces between different sex. 2010
• Table 12 Estimated percentage of marriages dissolved, assuming the divorce rates as in the year of obersvation. 1960-2010
• Table 13 Separation rates for males and females in different age groups. Separations between different sex. 1999-2010
• Table 14 Number of children involved in separations. Separations between different sex. 1999-2010
• Table 15 Separations, by number of children and duration of marriage. Separations between different sex. 2010