Proportion of Catholic weddings drops to almost a third – CSO stats

The number of Catholic weddings made up just 35% of all those taking place in the State – the lowest recorded figure since the year 2000 – with civil ceremonies (32%) catching up quickly, marriage statistics for 2023 show.

The proportion of Catholic weddings fell from 40% in 2022, while the percentage of civil ceremonies climbed from 26.2%, according the Central Statistics Office’s (CSO) latest figures. There were 21,159 weddings in the State in 2023, made up of 20,513 opposite-sex marriages and 646 between same-sex couples.

The figures are starkest in Ireland’s capital, where the 263 Catholic weddings made up just 9% of the 2,898 that took place in Dublin city in 2023. This marks a drop from 27.6% in 2013.

In Leinster overall, the proportion of Catholic weddings fell from 53% in 2013 to 26% in 2023.

Bishop Denis Nulty, chair of the Irish bishops’ council for marriage and the family, said the drop is “all the more reason to offer good preparation and accompaniment for those celebrating sacramental marriage”.

The number of Catholic weddings has seen a steady decline over the last decade, dropping below 50% of all marriages for the first time in 2018.

Over 1,710 ceremonies last year were Humanist and the Spiritualist Union of Ireland performed 1,674 (7.9%) ceremonies. There were 242 Church of Ireland ceremonies in 2023, making up just 1.1% of total marriages.

Nearly 3,470 (16%) couples opted for other religious ceremonies.

Overall, the number of marriages was down 8.7% on the previous year (23,174), but it exceeded the pre-pandemic 2019 figure by 4.2%.

The age of brides and grooms remained largely the same: for opposite-sex marriages, the average groom in 2023 was 37.7 years old and the average bride was 35.8 years old, changed slightly from 37.8 and 35.7 years old respectively in 2022.

As regards when people are getting married, Friday remains the most popular day of the week while August is the most popular month.

In 2022, July was the most popular month. The least popular day and month, Sunday and January, remain unchanged from 2022.