In contrast, there were also more couples signing up for marriage in 2021 than the previous year.
The report shows 106,499 civil marriages — with more than half (59,027) solemnised by department of home affairs marriage officers — were registered in 2021. There were 2,676 customary marriages and 2,240 civil unions.
“Registered civil marriages, customary marriages and civil unions increased by 19.2%, 68.8% and 52.3% respectively. The median ages of grooms and brides in civil marriages were 35 and 32 years respectively,” the report stated.
For most grooms and brides who tied the knot in 2021 it was their first marriage.
For grooms, 81% had never been married before, 3.8% were divorcees and 0.5% widowers.
For the brides, 86. 2% were “never married” while 2.5% were divorcees and 0.3% were widows.
Teenagers were among those to sign up for wedding bands.
Five civil marriages for grooms and 32 brides under the age of 18 were recorded. The report stated 30 of the brides were marrying for the first time.
“These children require the consent of a parent, guardian or commissioner of child welfare before entering into a marriage. In addition, boys younger than 18 years and girls younger than 15 require the consent of the minister of home affairs before they can get married,” said Stats SA.
Of the registered customary marriages, 28% were from KwaZulu-Natal followed by Limpopo with 26.7%, Mpumalanga 14.2% and Eastern Cape 13.1%. The other five provinces had less than 10% each.
Similar to civil marriages, grooms were generally older than brides, with an age difference of about six to seven years for customary marriages registered between 2017 and 2021. A higher number of grooms (17.8%) were aged 30 to 34 years and brides were predominantly at ages 25 to 29 years. In 2021, there were 14 grooms and 156 brides younger than 18.
The data on marriages and unions was gathered from the department of home affairs while information for divorces came from the department of justice and constitutional development through divorce courts, based on the number of divorce forms that reached Stats SA.
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More women are filing for divorce while higher number of first-timers pledge their vows
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More couples divorced in 2021 than the previous year, with many wives initiating the split.
Statistics SA said on Monday 18,208 completed divorce forms were processed in 2021, an increase of 13.1% from the divorces processed in 2020.
Of these, 54,8% were filed by women.
The median ages were 45 for men and 41 for women.
More than 80% of divorces for men and women were from first-time marriages compared to 10.5% of men and 8.3% of women from second marriages.
The provincial distribution shows Gauteng (4,859), Western Cape (3,833), KwaZulu-Natal (2,851) and Eastern Cape (2,138) saw the highest number of divorces granted, in line with population density.
The data showed 17,345 children were affected by the divorces.
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In contrast, there were also more couples signing up for marriage in 2021 than the previous year.
The report shows 106,499 civil marriages — with more than half (59,027) solemnised by department of home affairs marriage officers — were registered in 2021. There were 2,676 customary marriages and 2,240 civil unions.
“Registered civil marriages, customary marriages and civil unions increased by 19.2%, 68.8% and 52.3% respectively. The median ages of grooms and brides in civil marriages were 35 and 32 years respectively,” the report stated.
For most grooms and brides who tied the knot in 2021 it was their first marriage.
For grooms, 81% had never been married before, 3.8% were divorcees and 0.5% widowers.
For the brides, 86. 2% were “never married” while 2.5% were divorcees and 0.3% were widows.
Teenagers were among those to sign up for wedding bands.
Five civil marriages for grooms and 32 brides under the age of 18 were recorded. The report stated 30 of the brides were marrying for the first time.
“These children require the consent of a parent, guardian or commissioner of child welfare before entering into a marriage. In addition, boys younger than 18 years and girls younger than 15 require the consent of the minister of home affairs before they can get married,” said Stats SA.
Of the registered customary marriages, 28% were from KwaZulu-Natal followed by Limpopo with 26.7%, Mpumalanga 14.2% and Eastern Cape 13.1%. The other five provinces had less than 10% each.
Similar to civil marriages, grooms were generally older than brides, with an age difference of about six to seven years for customary marriages registered between 2017 and 2021. A higher number of grooms (17.8%) were aged 30 to 34 years and brides were predominantly at ages 25 to 29 years. In 2021, there were 14 grooms and 156 brides younger than 18.
The data on marriages and unions was gathered from the department of home affairs while information for divorces came from the department of justice and constitutional development through divorce courts, based on the number of divorce forms that reached Stats SA.
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