Marriages Civil Unions and Divorces: Year ended December 2008

Key facts

21,900 marriages were registered to New Zealand residents during the December 2008 year.
2,000 marriages were registered to overseas residents in 2008.
The general marriage rate was 13.7 marriages per 1,000 not-married population aged 16 years and over in 2008.
327 resident civil unions were registered in 2008, of which 78 percent were same-sex unions.
78 civil unions were registered to overseas residents in 2008.
9,700 orders for dissolution of marriage were granted in New Zealand during the December 2008 year.
There were 11.3 divorces for every 1,000 estimated existing marriages in 2008.

Graph, General Marriage Rate.

Graph, Divorce Rate.

Geoff Bascand	5 May 2009
Government Statistician	ISSN 1178-055X