Average age of brides and mothers on the rise

In findings published by NISRA in the Registrar General’s 100th Annual Report today, three key points came to light –  the average age of brides, grooms and first time mums continues to rise, Saturday August 28 was the most popular day to get married and the number of births to teenage mothers fell to a record low.

7,962 marriages were registered in 2021 with over half of the marriages registered (3,700) occurring between July – September, reflecting the easing of Covid restrictions. There were 396 same-sex marriages and 207 conversions from civil partnerships to marriage.

The average age for brides and grooms increased to 33.4 and 35.4 years respectively, compared with 26.5 years for brides and 28.6 years for grooms in 1991.

July was the most popular month to get married in 2021 and Saturday 28 August was the most popular day, with 107 couples having married on that date. There were 37 civil partnerships registered in 2021 (down from 43 registered in 2020), three of which involved male partnerships, six involved female partnerships, but the majority, 28, were opposite-sex partnerships.

There were 2,040 divorces granted in 2021. This was an increase on the previous year (1,507), but 30% lower than the peak number of 2,913 in 2007.

The average age of first-time mums continued to rise, up from 25.5 years in 1991 to 29.2 years in 2021.  The average age of all mums similarly rose, from 27.9 years to 31.2 years over the last three decades.

Of the 22,071 births registered (11,340 males and 10,731 females) 47.3 per cent occurred outside of marriage/civil partnership, compared to 19.2 per cent three decades ago. 2021 saw the stillbirth rate increase from 3.3 per 1,000 births in 2020 to 4.0 per 1,000. A total of 89 stillbirths were registered in Northern Ireland in 2021.