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Number of marriages down 7.7% over decade

There were 20,348 marriages registered in Ireland in 2024, which included 668 same-sex marriages, CSO statistics show.

The number of marriages fell by almost 4% from 21,159 marriages in 2023, and 7.7% since 2014.

The marriage rate per 1,000 of population stood at 3.8 in 2024 and was 4.8 in 2014.

The average age for brides and grooms stood at 35.9 years for brides and 37.7 years for grooms in 2024.

In 2024, the average age of males in same-sex marriages was 40.7 years, while the average age of females in same-sex marriages was 39.7 years.

Popular

Catholic marriages and civil ceremonies were the most popular choice for opposite-sex couples, accounting for 6,425 and 6,392, respectively, of the 19,680 ceremonies in 2024.

The ratio of Catholic and civil ceremonies has reduced in ten years, with only 33 more Catholic ceremonies than civil ceremonies taking place in 2024 compared with 6,905 more in 2014.

Friday was the most popular day to get married, while August was the most popular month to wed for opposite-sex couples, while September was the most popular month for same-sex couples to marry in 2024.

Meanwhile CSO data also shows that more than 90% of apprentices who qualified in 2020 were in employment two years later, and their median weekly earnings were €935.

The number of qualified apprentices who completed engineering and engineering trades apprenticeships nearly doubled between 2016 and 2020, from 970 in 2016 to 1,875 in 2020.

The number of qualified apprentices in the field of architecture and construction more than doubled between 2016 and 2020, from 230 in 2016 to 490 in 2020.

The most common consortia-led apprenticeship was in business and administration, accounting for fewer than 7% (185) of all completed apprenticeships in 2020.

The share of qualified apprentices not in work dropped significantly over the ten-year period, from approximately 40% in 2010 to 7% in 2020.

The top industry sectors for employing the apprentices who qualified in 2020 were construction (870), industry (575), and wholesale and retail trade (270).

Those who qualified from a craft apprenticeship had median weekly earnings of €950, compared with €770 for those who completed a consortia-led apprenticeship.