People in South Africa are clearly not in a hurry to get married. The latest national census found that only 24% were legally married, another 8% were living together as husband and wife or partners. But nearly two-thirds (63%) said they had never been married.

What’s more, the number of marriages registered in the country has plunged over the past 20 years, according StatsSA’s latest marriages and divorces report.

This is not unique to South Africa, the proportion of people getting married is decreasing in many countries.

But South Africa stands out for the extremely low proportion of its population that is married or in a union. For example, only a third (33.3%) of South African women between the ages of 15 and 49 were married or in a union in 2024, according to United Nations estimates. That’s the lowest percentage of all African countries and the third lowest in the world. Only two island nations, Antigua and Barbuda, and Martinique, were lower. 

The world average for women in this age group is 63.8%. Africa’s average is 60%. In developed or high-income countries, like the United States, Germany, France and Australia, just of 50% are in marriages or unions.

Our neighbours, Namibia and Eswatini were pretty close at 34.7% and 35% respectively.

The UN data includes women in the ‘reproductive age’ range (16-49 years), not all women. But South African census data seems to back it up.

Three ways to wed

There are three ways you can get married in South Africa: civil marriages, customary marriages and civil unions.

Civil marriages are the most common, those are the ones presided over by a religious official in a place of worship or by an official at the Department of Home Affairs: 95% of South African marriages are civil.

Customary marriages are the next most common.

Civil unions, or partnerships, the third option, are relatively new. They were introduced in South Africa in November 2006 and allow for same-sex couples to marry, although opposite-sex couples choose this option as well.

The number of civil unions has been steadily rising. The other two options have both seen big decreases.

In 2023, there were 105,123 marriages and unions registered in South Africa, 95% civil marriages, 3% customary marriages and 2% civil unions, according to StatsSA.

The number of weddings that are civil marriages has plunged by more than 40% in the past 20 years.

The reasons for this are many and varied and there is a growing preference for life partnerships over traditional marriage structures.

Customary marriages have seen an even sharper drop, of 80%, over the past 20 years. StatsSA notes that couples can sometimes register their customary marriages years after the event occurred.

The number of civil unions has been steadily rising, from just 80 in 2007 to 2,297 in 2023, although there was a 7% dip between 2022 and 2023.

Waiting for the right time

People are getting married older. The median age of women who get married for the first time has increased by five years over the past decade, from 28 years old in 2002 to 33 years old in 2023. For men it has increased by four years, from 32 years old to 36 years old.

In 2023, only 10% of first-time civil marriages were between individuals of the same age. In the majority of cases (75%), the groom was older than the bride.

Many people are choosing to further their education or build a career before they get married. Financial stability is also a factor and the cost of a wedding can be terrifying.

Global comparisons

World Bank data shows that women in South Africa get married a lot older than those in other African countries. The data covers 2016 to 2018, so things have changed a bit, but that data shows that women in South Africa got married at 27 years old, on average. Nineteen was the average age for first-time brides, in Mali and Mozambique. At the other end of the spectrum, Namibia had the highest average bride age at 30 years old.

The trend of women marrying younger than men holds across most countries. For instance, the average age at first marriage for men was 34 in Namibia and 31 in Morocco.

The latest data for age at first marriage in Kenya and Nigeria was from 2013 and 2014, where the average age of the bride was 22 in Kenya and 21 in Nigeria.

In the world’s wealthier countries, women wait till they’re in their thirties to get married. In the Netherlands, Italy and Germany, women marry for the first time, on average, at 32 years old. In China, the average age for women to marry was 25.

Get more stories like this:

Subscribe to our newsletter for more data-based stories.