Weddings in Portugal in numbers: marriage statistics from INE, 2015–2025

Statistics Portugal — the Instituto Nacional de Estatística, INE — counts every marriage registered at a Conservatória do Registo Civil, which includes Catholic weddings and those of other religions with civil effect, and the marriages of non-residents who marry in Portugal. This page brings its latest figures together: ten years of totals, how couples marry, how old they are, when and where they marry, and how often one or both are foreign. Each number names its INE table and year; the sources are listed at the end.

How many couples marry in Portugal each year?

Marriages celebrated in Portugal, by form of celebration. The Catholic, civil and other religious columns are opposite-sex marriages, which is how INE breaks them down; same-sex marriages are counted separately.

The pandemic cut 2020 to 18,902 marriages, the lowest of the period, and 2021 to 29,057. Weddings bounced back to 36,952 in 2022 and have stayed above 36,600 since; 2025’s 37,714 is 16.4% above 2015 and 13.4% above 2019, and the highest in INE’s series since at least 2012, when there were 34,423. Measured against the population, Portugal still marries little: 3.5 marriages per 1,000 inhabitants in 2023, and in 2022 — the latest EU comparison INE reports, from Eurostat — Portugal (3.5), Italy and Slovakia (3.2) had the lowest rates in the EU, against 6.6 in Hungary.

Civil or Catholic?

Civil weddings have overtaken Catholic ones decisively. In 2025, 29,728 opposite-sex marriages (81.1%) were civil only, 6,809 (18.6%) Catholic and 114 (0.3%) celebrated in another religion. Counting same-sex marriages too, Catholic weddings were 18.1% of all marriages in 2025. In 2016 the Catholic share of opposite-sex marriages was 35.3%; INE notes a fall of 16.7 percentage points between 2016 and 2025. The 2020 figure (12.3%) belongs to the pandemic year and is an outlier.

Catholic weddings have civil effect in Portugal, and since Decree-Law 324/2007 so do weddings before ministers of other religious communities established in the country — INE’s “other” column. The civil paperwork starts at a Conservatória either way; getting legally married in Portugal explains each route.

How many same-sex marriages are there?

Same-sex marriage has been legal in Portugal since Law 9/2010 of 31 May. INE counted 350 same-sex marriages in 2015, 1,009 in 2023, 1,044 in 2024 and 1,063 in 2025 — 7,490 over 2015–2025. Until 2024 there were more marriages between men than between women every year of that series; in 2025 it turned, with 551 between women and 512 between men. The share is highest in Greater Lisbon (4.7% of the region’s 2025 marriages) and Madeira (4.0%), against 2.8% nationally.

How old are couples when they marry?

Average age at marriage, in years (INE). “First marriage” counts people marrying for the first time; “all marriages” includes remarriages.

• Couples marry later every year. Between 2015 and 2025 the average age at first marriage rose by 3.6 years for both women and men. In 2025 men were on average 1.5 years older than women at their first marriage.
• Most couples already live together. In 2023, 71.2% of couples who married had a common address before the wedding, up from 54.5% in 2015 (INE, Estatísticas Demográficas 2023).
• About two in three are first marriages for both. In 2023, 64.7% of marriages were between two people who had never been married (INE).
• The islands and the North marry youngest. In 2025 the Azores had the lowest average ages at marriage, followed by the North; in 2023, first-time brides averaged 31.9 in the Azores and 36.0 on the Setúbal Peninsula (INE).

Which months are busiest?

Marriages by month: 2019 for comparison before the pandemic, then 2023–2025, with each month’s share of 2025 (INE).

Two things stand out. First, Portugal’s wedding season is late summer, not June: August and September together held 26.3% of 2025’s marriages, and May to October 68.4%. Second, the peak is moving later — August was the busiest month every year from 2016 to 2019, while September topped 2022, 2023 and 2025. January to March held 14.1% of 2025’s marriages, the quietest quarter. What that means for the weather, month by month, is in the wedding weather guide.

Where do couples marry?

Marriages by NUTS II region (INE’s 2024 regions), 2024 and 2025, with each region’s same-sex share and busiest month in 2025.

The North alone had 35.1% of Portugal’s marriages in 2025, and is one of only two regions — with the Centre — where August beats September. Everywhere else September is the busiest month. In the Algarve the pattern is striking: its 2025 peak was September (268 marriages), with May (215) and October (213) close behind, while July (152) and August (164) — the holiday peak — were quieter. Six regions grew in 2025, the Azores most (+17.8%); Greater Lisbon, the Setúbal Peninsula and the Algarve (−7.1%) fell.

How many weddings involve a foreign spouse?

Marriages by the spouses’ nationality and planned residence, 2023 — the latest year INE has published this breakdown in its Estatísticas Demográficas. The “either” column adds INE’s two nationality figures.

Across Portugal, one marriage in five in 2023 involved at least one foreign national: 5,409 between a Portuguese and a foreign spouse (14.6%) and 2,163 between two foreigners (5.8%). The Algarve stands apart: 45.3% of its marriages involved a foreign national, a quarter (25.3%) were between two foreigners, and 23.3% of its couples said they would live abroad after the wedding — together with Madeira (25.0%), the clearest official trace of destination weddings. Nationally 2,926 couples (7.9%) planned to live abroad, fewer than the 3,479 of 2015.

What do the numbers mean if you are planning a wedding?

• Late August and September are the most contested weeks. If your date falls there, book the photographer and the venue first; for how far ahead, see how to choose a wedding photographer.
• May, June and October are almost as popular — each about a tenth of the year’s marriages — and usually milder than August inland.
• Winter is quiet. With 14.1% of marriages from January to March, there is more choice of dates; plan for rain and short days (rain plan, sunset times).
• In the Algarve and Madeira, couples from abroad are a large share of the weddings — you will be far from the only couple planning around guests who fly in.
• A civil ceremony is now the norm — four in five opposite-sex weddings. A Catholic wedding means planning around the parish as well as the Conservatória.

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