Same-sex partners enter into 554 marriages

According to Statistics Finland’s data on population changes, 26,542 marriages were entered into in 2017 of which 554 were marriages between same-sex couples. An amendment to the Marriage Act entered into force on 1 March 2017 that enabled same-sex couples to enter into marriage and, at the same time, registration of partnerships was abolished. Prior to the Act entering into force, 36 partnerships were still registered in January and February 2017. A total of 25,988 marriages between opposite-sex couples were entered into, which was 515 fewer than in the year before.

Number of marriages and divorces 1990–2017, opposite-sex couples

The statistical method for calculating the total number of annually contracted marriages and divorces was changed starting from the statistics for 2017 so that the statistics include all marriages and divorces where at least one of the spouses resides permanently in Finland on the day of the event. In 1980 to 2016, the total number consisted of cases where the woman was permanently residing in Finland on the day of marriage or divorce. In the figure and Appendix table 1, the number of contracted marriages and divorces is presented with the revised statistical method retrospectively starting from 1990. In order for the numbers for different years to be comparable in the figure, the number for 2017 does not include same-sex marriages, 554, or divorces, of which there were two.

The marriage rate, i.e. the ratio of persons who have entered into marriage of those who could marry, has decreased nearly continuously since 2008. In recent years, the marriage rate has no longer decreased considerably, however. While women's marriage rate was 24 per one thousand women not married or not in a registered partnership in 2008, the corresponding rate in 2017 was 18. The corresponding figures for men were 27 in 2008 and 19 in 2017. In 2017, the marriage rate decreased among persons aged under 40 compared with the previous year, while among older persons it was slightly livelier.

Age at the time of first marriage keeps rising

In 2017, the rise in the average age of women and men entering into their first marriage continued for opposite-sex couples. The average age of women increased by 0.3 years and that of men by 0.1 years from the year before. The average age of women entering into their first marriage was 31.7 years and 33.9 years for men. The average age of women entering into their second marriage was 44.6 years and 47.5 years for men.

In 2017, the average age in marriages between two women was 36.1 years. Correspondingly, the average age in marriages between two men was 41.3 years.

The number of marriages entered into between opposite-sex couples decreased because clearly fewer first marriages were contracted than in the year before. By contrast, the number of remarriages was slightly higher than in the previous year. However, the annual changes were so small that the share of first marriages in all marriages entered into is still around three quarters. The relative share has remained at the same level throughout the early 2000s. Twenty-one per cent of all marriages contracted were second marriages, and four per cent were third marriages.

Number of divorces decreased

In 2017, in total 13,485 marriages ended in divorce. Apart from two of these, all were divorces where the spouses were of opposite sexes. The number of divorces between spouses of opposite sexes decreased by 292 from the previous year. The annual number of divorces has fluctuated without a clear direction. However, 2017 was the second successive year when the number decreased. The annual changes in the numbers have, however, been so small that the divorce rate, i.e. the number of divorces in relation to married persons, has remained at the same level for over 20 years: 13 to 14 divorces per one thousand married women or men. Changes by age in the divorce rate were also minor compared with the previous year.

In first marriages between opposite-sex spouses, the average age for women at the time of divorce was 40.6 years. The corresponding average age of men was 42.9 in 2017. The average age of both sexes at the time of divorce increased by one-tenth from the year before. The average age of either sex at the time of divorce has not had a clearly rising or falling trend in the last few years.

Number of marriages contracted between same-sex partners higher than registrations of same-sex partnerships in any year

The number of marriages contracted between same-sex partners, 554, is higher than the highest number of registrations of same-sex partnerships, 446. The highest number of registrations of same-sex partnerships was reached in the first year that was not even full as the act on registered partnerships entered into force on 1 March 2002.

One could say that the amendment to the Marriage Act inspired same-sex couples to get married when we compare the number of marriages contracted to the number of partnership registrations in recent years. In all, 554 contracted marriages in ten months is more than one and a half times the average number of registered partnerships in the previous five years and more than double the number in 2016. Of all contracted marriages, 16 per cent were contracted in March and 72 per cent during the first six months.

Of the marriages, 181 were between two men and 373 between two women. Before the Marriage Act entered into force at the beginning of March, 16 male couples and 15 female couples registered their partnerships in January and February.

The number of registered same-sex partnerships ending in divorce has been around 130 in two previous years. In 2017, the number of divorces was 131, which is four more than in the previous year. Of them, 36 were divorces of male couples and 95 of female couples.

Changes in marital status, mean age of men and women at first marriage in 2008–2017

	Year
	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017
Contracted marriages	32 947	31 975	31 925	30 557	31 008	27 238	26 551	26 735	26 503	26 542
Divorces	13 709	13 727	13807	13 681	13 251	13 989	13 915	14 170	13 775	13 485
Mean age at first marriage, opposite-sex couples, women	30,2	30,2	30,3	30,6	30,8	30,6	30,7	31,2	31,4	31,7
Mean age at first marriage, opposite-sex couples, men	32,5	32,5	32,6	32,9	33,1	32,8	32,9	33,4	33,7	33,9
Mean age at first divorce, opposite–sex couples, women	40,3	40,0	39,9	40,4	40,0	40,0	39,9	40,4	40,5	40,6
Mean age at first divorce, opposite-sex couples, men	42,5	42,2	42,3	42,7	42,3	42,3	42,3	42,8	42,8	42,9
Registered partnerships	249	246	322	333	329	373	333	318	251	36 ¹⁾
Divorces from registered partnerships	45	53	64	85	103	101	109	133	127	131

1) In January and Februari 2017 registered partnerships.

Source: Changes in marital status 2017. Statistics Finland

Inquiries: Timo Nikander 029 551 3250, info@stat.fi

Director in charge: Jari Tarkoma

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Tables

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Appendix tables

Appendix table 1. Marriages and divorces 1990 - 2017 (8.5.2018)
Appendix table 2. Marriages contracted by month 2007 - 2017 1) (8.5.2018)

Figures

Quality descriptions

Quality description, changes in marital status (8.5.2018)

Updated 8.5.2018

Referencing instructions:

Official Statistics of Finland (OSF): Changes in marital status [e-publication].
ISSN=1797-643X. 2017. Helsinki: Statistics Finland [referred: 22.12.2024].
Access method: http://www.stat.fi/til/ssaaty/2017/ssaaty_2017_2018-05-08_tie_001_en.html