“Of the total number of marriages celebrated, 35,589 occurred between people of the opposite sex (35,971 in 2023) and 1,044 between people of the same sex (1,009 in 2023), of which 526 marriages between men and 518 marriages between women (548 and 461, respectively, in 2023)”, according to the data published in the “Vital Statistics” of the National Institute of Statistics (INE).

The data points to an increase in the number of marriages in the regions of Greater Lisbon (+1.8%), Setúbal Peninsula (+0.6%), Alentejo (+2.1%) and the Autonomous Region of Madeira (+7.7%).

On the other hand, there were decreases, greater than the national figure (-0.9%), in the number of marriages celebrated in the other NUTS II regions, with the Autonomous Region of the Azores recording the sharpest drop (-7.8%).

The regions of Greater Lisbon and Madeira recorded the highest proportion of marriages celebrated between people of the same sex (4.7% and 4.3%, respectively).

According to the INE, the average age at first marriage was 35.8 years for men and 34.3 years for women.

In all NUTS II regions, the average age at first marriage and at marriage was higher for men than for women.

The North, Centre and Azores regions recorded average ages lower than the national average age at first marriage.

“These three regions, together with the Autonomous Region of Madeira, recorded average ages at marriage lower than the national average. The Autonomous Region of the Azores was the one where both men and women married earlier,” he highlights.

Of the total number of marriages celebrated between people of the opposite sex in 2024, 19.9% ​​(7,094) were celebrated using the Catholic rite, 79.7% (28,361) were performed only in civil form and 0.4% (134) according to other religious forms.

Between 2015 and 2024, the proportion of Catholic marriages decreased and the proportion of civil marriages increased by about 16 percentage points.