Ireland recorded 19,898 marriages in 2025, a fall of 2.2% compared with 20,348 in 2024, according to new figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO). The data, published on 5 May 2026, also show that same-sex marriages accounted for 624 unions — 3.1% of all marriages registered last year.
Behind the annual dip lies a longer-term shift in when — and how — couples are choosing to marry. The CSO puts the average age in opposite-sex marriages at 38.0 for grooms and 36.1 for brides in 2025. That is not simply a one-year fluctuation: the marriage rate has been trending down for a decade, falling from 4.7 marriages per 1,000 population in 2015 to 3.6 per 1,000 in 2025.
While Ireland remains a popular wedding destination for overseas couples, the domestic picture looks increasingly defined by later family formation, longer periods of cohabitation, and practical considerations such as housing costs and career stability — factors that can influence whether couples marry at all, and when they do.
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Ceremony choices reflect changing society
The CSO release also highlights how ceremony preferences are evolving. In 2025, 5,927 couples (29.8%) married in Catholic ceremonies, down from 31.6% in 2024. Civil ceremonies were the most common option. Other religious ceremonies were also significant: 4,480 couples (22.5%) chose “other religious” ceremonies, while the Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 1,263 ceremonies (6.3%).
The same dataset details separate trends within same-sex marriages. In 2025, there were 314 male same-sex marriages and 310 female same-sex marriages — a near-even split. The CSO reports the average age of women in same-sex marriages at 38.1 in 2025, down from 40.0 in 2020.
For planners, venues and suppliers, the headline numbers matter — but so does the profile of the couples behind them. Older marrying ages can shape everything from guest-list sizes and budgets to the type of event couples want: fewer “traditional” formats, and more personalised ceremonies where the legal and celebratory parts align.
