SINGAPORE, July 11 — Fewer couples in Singapore walked down the aisle in 2025, but those who did largely said they were still happily married, The Straits Times reported today, citing the government’s latest family trends report.
The country recorded 24,688 marriages last year, down 6.2 per cent from 2024 and the lowest number in nearly a decade, excluding the pandemic-hit year of 2020.
“Especially in societies where spouse selection is a private decision, as opposed to being match-made by family, by the time we decided to marry, most are certain they have found their life partner and companion, and they look forward to building their life together,” Singapore Management University sociology professor Paulin Tay Straughan was quoted as saying.
A survey of 3,000 respondents by the Ministry of Social and Family Development found nearly 95 per cent of married people were happy with their relationship, while about 88 per cent said they rarely or never considered ending their marriage.
About 93 per cent of respondents also said their relationship was going well, while only 3.7 per cent described themselves as a little unhappy and 0.5 per cent as extremely unhappy.
While fewer couples got married, fewer also called it quits, with 7,242 marriages ending in divorce or annulment in 2025, a 1.9 per cent drop from 7,382 the year before.
The most vulnerable period for marriages remained between the fifth and 10th year, but newer marriage cohorts appeared to be lasting longer, with the share of marriages ending before their 10th anniversary falling from 17 per cent for couples who married in 2005 to 13.5 per cent for those who wed in 2014.
One major change in Singapore’s divorce landscape was the growing use of a newer, less confrontational option, with nearly one in five civil divorces in 2025 granted through mutual agreement.
Introduced in July 2024, divorce by mutual agreement allows couples to end their marriage without blaming each other through claims such as adultery or unreasonable behaviour.
“Ultimately, it is the cumulative impact of the conduct, rather than any single incident, that the court assesses,” family lawyer Dorothy Tan told the Singaporean newspaper, referring to unreasonable behaviour cases
Unreasonable behaviour remained the most common reason cited for civil divorces at 48.7 per cent, followed by couples living apart or separated for at least three years at 30.5 per cent, while mutual agreement accounted for 18.8 per cent.
Lawyer Ivan Cheong said the new option gives couples who have already decided to separate a way to avoid turning their marriage history into a list of complaints.
“The new option allows couples to end a marriage without having to rewrite the history of their relationship into a list of grievances,” he was quoted as saying.
For Singapore’s family landscape, the latest figures paint a mixed picture: fewer people are getting married, but those who do appear more committed, while couples ending their marriages are increasingly choosing a less combative path.
