Fewer weddings in Austria: a trend of loneliness?

Fewer weddings in Austria: a trend of loneliness?

in social change, weddings for women no longer have the same importance as before as they were often considered to be covered. According to the statistics Austria, which has recorded marriages since the 18th century, the registry offices have been used for reports from the registry offices since 1945. In 2010 reports on registered partnerships were also recorded. This data is automatically transmitted from the central civil status register, which further improves the quality of the statistics. Nowadays it is important to classify spouses in the regional context of your places of residence, which is handled differently in the case of separate places of residence of the couple, depending on gender and age.

demographic developments in marriage behavior

The decline in marriages is not just an Austrian phenomenon. In Germany, too, the statistics show a worrying trend: in 2023 only 360,979 marriages were closed, which represents the second lowest level since 1950. Here the number of marriages is only 4 per 1,000 inhabitants, a drastic decline compared to the approximately 10 marriages each 1,000 inhabitants in the 1950s. The demographic shifts, such as the increased average age at the first marriage - men are 35.3 years old in 2023, women 32.8 years - and the high proportion of remarried couples (almost 30 % of marriages) illustrate a significant change in society.

• In 2023 there were 9,228 marriages of same -sex couples in Germany, including 652 conversions of civil partnerships.
• The average marriage duration up to the divorce is 14.8 years, which shows that despite the decline in marriages, many couples spend a long time together.
• The divorce number in Germany is 277 divorces per 1,000 marriages, which is a significant change compared to previous years.

After the end of an honorable tradition that was often associated with the marriage, it can be seen that the social views and needs varied in 2025. The marriage statistics from Statistics Austria and and Destatis illustrate the urgent need to analyze and understand this social change more precisely. The emotional and practical aspects of marriage remain of central importance, even if the starting position has changed for many couples.