How much later do Singaporeans marry?
Pick a year to compare it with 2025: the typical age at a first marriage and a first baby, and who is marrying. Residents, 1990 to 2025.
How old are people at their first marriage and first baby?
Each row is a typical age (the median: half are younger, half are older), for residents. The line runs from your year to 2025. Hover or tap a row for details.
Compared with 1990, the typical first-time bride in 2025 is 4.1 years older, the typical groom 3 years older and the typical first-time mum 4.7 years older.
Is the first baby coming later after the wedding?
Each bar is one year: how much older the typical first-time mum is than the typical first-time bride. It compares two typical ages, not the wait of each couple. Tap a bar to pick that year.
In 1990 the typical first-time mum was 2.2 years older than the typical first-time bride; in 2025, 2.8 years. From 1990 to 2025 the gap stayed between 2.1 years and 2.9 years, even though both ages rose.
How many couples are both graduates?
Each grid is 100 first marriages. A filled dot is a couple in which the groom and the bride both have a university degree. All first marriages registered in Singapore, not only residents.
In 1990, 7 in every 100 couples marrying for the first time were both university graduates (about 1 in 15). In 2025, 55 in every 100 (more than 1 in 2).
How many people are still single in their 40s?
Each bar is the share of men or women aged 40 to 49 who have never married, for residents. Most years are survey estimates, so small changes are not reliable. Hover or tap a bar for details.
Men aged 40 to 49
Women aged 40 to 49
Among men aged 40 to 49, about 1 in 10 had never married in 1990 and about 1 in 7 in 2025. Among women, about 1 in 10 had never married in 1990 and about 1 in 7 in 2025.
Fun finds
The short version
The typical first-time bride in Singapore was 29.4 in 2025, up from 25.3 in 1990; the typical groom was 30.9, up from 27.9; and the typical first-time mum was 32.2, up from 27.5 (residents, medians).
What we did. We took SingStat's median ages at first marriage (resident grooms and brides) and at first birth (resident mothers) for 1990 to 2025, its counts of first marriages by the education of the groom and the bride, and its counts of residents by marital status. For first births by the mother's age we used ICA's table for 2017 to 2024.
What we found. The typical bride is 4.1 years older than in 1990, the groom 3 years older and the first-time mum 4.7 years older. The typical first-time mum is 2.8 years older than the typical bride (2.2 years in 1990), and that gap stayed between 2.1 years and 2.9 years in every year. 7 in every 100 couples marrying for the first time were both university graduates in 1990; in 2025, 55 (more than 1 in 2). Among people in their 40s, about 1 in 10 men had never married in 1990 and about 1 in 7 in 2025; for women, about 1 in 10 and about 1 in 7. In 2024, about 1 in 4 first babies had a mother aged 35 or more, against 18 in every 100 in 2017.
What to keep in mind. The three ages are medians of different groups of people, so the gap between the mum and the bride is not any couple's wait for a first baby. The graduate counts and the education table cover all first marriages registered in Singapore, not only residents, and the ICA table covers all first births registered in Singapore; ICA changed how it counts first births in May 2022. Most of the single-in-the-40s figures are survey estimates. 2020 and 2021 were COVID-19 years. We show how the ages changed and we do not say why. Use the picker to see your own year, then check the numbers and the boring bit below.
By Ben (opens in a new tab). Updated . Data: SingStat Table Builder (marriages, first births, marital status); ICA (first births by the mother's age).
Questions people ask
What is the average age to get married in Singapore?
In 2025, the typical (median) resident groom marrying for the first time was 30.9 and the typical bride 29.4. In 1990 it was 27.9 and 25.3. These are medians, so half of first-time grooms and brides are younger and half are older.
What is the average age of first-time mothers in Singapore?
In 2025, the typical (median) age of a resident mother at her first birth was 32.2, up from 27.5 in 1990, a rise of 4.7 years. From 2022 ICA counts the order of births only from what parents declare, so the last few years are counted slightly differently.
How much later do Singaporeans marry than in 1990?
The typical first-time bride is 4.1 years older (25.3 to 29.4) and the typical first-time groom 3 years older (27.9 to 30.9). The gap between them shrank from 2.6 years to 1.5 years.
Do couples in Singapore still have their first baby soon after marrying?
The typical first-time mum is 2.8 years older than the typical first-time bride in 2025, against 2.2 years in 1990, and between 2.1 years and 2.9 years in every year in between. So the baby age rose a little more than the wedding age (4.7 years against 4.1 years). This compares two typical ages. It does not follow couples, and it is not the wait of each couple.
Is it only because more people are graduates?
No. Among all first marriages registered in Singapore, the typical age rose in every education group from 1990 to 2025: for brides by 4.5 years (secondary or below), 2.3 years (post-secondary) and 3.3 years (university); for grooms by 4.2 years, 1.7 years and 2.5 years. We do not say what causes it.
How many couples are both university graduates?
In 2025, 55 in every 100 first marriages (10,504 of 19,233) were between two university graduates, more than 1 in 2. In 1990 it was 7 in every 100 (1,403 of 21,044), about 1 in 15. These counts cover all first marriages registered in Singapore, not only residents.
How many first-time mums are 35 or older?
In 2024, 24 in every 100 first births (about 1 in 4) were to a mother aged 35 or more: 3,849 of 15,769. In 2017 it was 18 in every 100 (3,366 of 18,570). ICA changed how it counts first births in May 2022, so we compare within each method too: it rose from 18.1 to 20.8 in every 100 between 2017 and 2021, and from 22.0 to 24.4 between 2023 and 2024.
Are more Singaporeans staying single?
More of those in their 40s have never married. For men aged 40 to 49, 10.0 in every 100 in 1990 and 14.8 in 2025; for women, 9.9 and 14.9. This is the share who are single at that age. It does not say who will marry later.
Did COVID-19 change the numbers?
It shifted the weddings. There were 17,789 first marriages in 2020, then 22,808 in 2021 and 23,112 in 2022, the most of any year from 1990 to 2025. The typical ages kept rising slowly through those years. 2020 and 2021 figures should be read with care.
Why do marriage ages differ between sources?
Three reasons: some sources give the mean and this page gives the median; some count only citizens or residents and some count every first marriage registered in Singapore; and the years differ. We say which each figure is, and we use residents for the headline ages.
Does this say why people marry later?
No. It shows how the ages changed, not why. We do not claim a reason.
The numbers behind it
| Year | Bride | Groom | First-time mum | Mum older than bride (years) | Groom older than bride (years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 25.3 | 27.9 | 27.5 | 2.2 | 2.6 |
| 1991 | 25.3 | 28.0 | 27.7 | 2.4 | 2.7 |
| 1992 | 25.5 | 28.3 | 27.9 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| 1993 | 25.6 | 28.4 | 28.0 | 2.4 | 2.8 |
| 1994 | 25.6 | 28.5 | 28.1 | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| 1995 | 25.6 | 28.5 | 28.2 | 2.6 | 2.9 |
| 1996 | 25.8 | 28.6 | 28.4 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| 1997 | 25.7 | 28.3 | 28.5 | 2.8 | 2.6 |
| 1998 | 25.8 | 28.3 | 28.6 | 2.8 | 2.5 |
| 1999 | 26.0 | 28.4 | 28.6 | 2.6 | 2.4 |
| 2000 | 26.2 | 28.6 | 28.7 | 2.5 | 2.4 |
| 2001 | 26.1 | 28.8 | 28.9 | 2.8 | 2.7 |
| 2002 | 26.2 | 28.9 | 29.1 | 2.9 | 2.7 |
| 2003 | 26.5 | 29.0 | 29.2 | 2.7 | 2.5 |
| 2004 | 26.6 | 29.4 | 29.4 | 2.8 | 2.8 |
| 2005 | 26.8 | 29.7 | 29.3 | 2.5 | 2.9 |
| 2006 | 26.9 | 29.7 | 29.5 | 2.6 | 2.8 |
| 2007 | 27.2 | 29.7 | 29.7 | 2.5 | 2.5 |
| 2008 | 27.3 | 29.7 | 29.7 | 2.4 | 2.4 |
| 2009 | 27.5 | 29.8 | 29.8 | 2.3 | 2.3 |
| 2010 | 27.7 | 30.0 | 30.1 | 2.4 | 2.3 |
| 2011 | 28.0 | 30.1 | 30.1 | 2.1 | 2.1 |
| 2012 | 27.9 | 30.1 | 30.4 | 2.5 | 2.2 |
| 2013 | 28.1 | 30.2 | 30.5 | 2.4 | 2.1 |
| 2014 | 28.1 | 30.2 | 30.7 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
| 2015 | 28.1 | 30.2 | 30.7 | 2.6 | 2.1 |
| 2016 | 28.1 | 30.1 | 30.7 | 2.6 | 2.0 |
| 2017 | 28.2 | 29.9 | 30.7 | 2.5 | 1.7 |
| 2018 | 28.3 | 30.0 | 30.7 | 2.4 | 1.7 |
| 2019 | 28.6 | 30.2 | 30.9 | 2.3 | 1.6 |
| 2020 | 28.6 | 30.2 | 31.1 | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| 2021 | 29.0 | 30.4 | 31.3 | 2.3 | 1.4 |
| 2022 | 29.1 | 30.6 | 31.4 | 2.3 | 1.5 |
| 2023 | 29.2 | 30.8 | 31.7 | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| 2024 | 29.4 | 30.9 | 32.0 | 2.6 | 1.5 |
| 2025 | 29.4 | 30.9 | 32.2 | 2.8 | 1.5 |
| Year | First marriages | Both graduates | In every 100 | Grooms who are graduates (in every 100) | Brides who are graduates (in every 100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 21,044 | 1,403 | 7 | 12 | 9 |
| 1991 | 21,699 | 1,632 | 8 | 13 | 10 |
| 1992 | 22,219 | 1,789 | 8 | 14 | 11 |
| 1993 | 21,821 | 2,022 | 9 | 16 | 12 |
| 1994 | 21,050 | 2,077 | 10 | 17 | 13 |
| 1995 | 21,196 | 2,576 | 12 | 20 | 16 |
| 1996 | 20,135 | 2,854 | 14 | 22 | 18 |
| 1997 | 21,438 | 3,373 | 16 | 25 | 20 |
| 1998 | 18,835 | 3,220 | 17 | 26 | 22 |
| 1999 | 20,999 | 4,174 | 20 | 29 | 26 |
| 2000 | 18,233 | 4,116 | 23 | 32 | 29 |
| 2001 | 17,895 | 3,984 | 22 | 32 | 29 |
| 2002 | 18,802 | 4,618 | 25 | 35 | 33 |
| 2003 | 17,496 | 4,725 | 27 | 37 | 36 |
| 2004 | 17,132 | 4,733 | 28 | 37 | 36 |
| 2005 | 17,268 | 4,686 | 27 | 37 | 37 |
| 2006 | 17,852 | 5,278 | 30 | 39 | 40 |
| 2007 | 17,874 | 5,651 | 32 | 41 | 42 |
| 2008 | 18,423 | 6,196 | 34 | 43 | 45 |
| 2009 | 19,413 | 6,905 | 36 | 45 | 48 |
| 2010 | 18,007 | 6,823 | 38 | 47 | 50 |
| 2011 | 20,315 | 8,023 | 39 | 49 | 52 |
| 2012 | 20,930 | 8,372 | 40 | 49 | 53 |
| 2013 | 19,706 | 8,167 | 41 | 51 | 55 |
| 2014 | 21,555 | 9,150 | 42 | 51 | 57 |
| 2015 | 21,639 | 9,107 | 42 | 51 | 56 |
| 2016 | 21,364 | 9,211 | 43 | 52 | 57 |
| 2017 | 21,806 | 9,924 | 46 | 54 | 60 |
| 2018 | 20,822 | 9,879 | 47 | 56 | 62 |
| 2019 | 19,356 | 9,338 | 48 | 56 | 63 |
| 2020 | 17,789 | 8,683 | 49 | 56 | 63 |
| 2021 | 22,808 | 11,372 | 50 | 57 | 64 |
| 2022 | 23,112 | 11,789 | 51 | 59 | 65 |
| 2023 | 21,887 | 11,568 | 53 | 61 | 67 |
| 2024 | 20,545 | 10,940 | 53 | 61 | 68 |
| 2025 | 19,233 | 10,504 | 55 | 63 | 69 |
| Who | Education | 1990 | 2025 | Change (years) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Brides | Secondary or below | 24.8 | 29.3 | 4.5 |
| Brides | Post-secondary | 25.9 | 28.2 | 2.3 |
| Brides | University | 26.7 | 30.0 | 3.3 |
| Brides | All brides | 25.3 | 29.6 | 4.3 |
| Grooms | Secondary or below | 27.7 | 31.9 | 4.2 |
| Grooms | Post-secondary | 28.2 | 29.9 | 1.7 |
| Grooms | University | 29.0 | 31.5 | 2.5 |
| Grooms | All grooms | 28.0 | 31.1 | 3.1 |
| Year | Men 30 to 39 | Women 30 to 39 | Men 40 to 49 | Women 40 to 49 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1990 | 26.7 | 18.1 | 10.0 | 9.9 |
| 1991 | 24.7 | 17.5 | 8.1 | 9.6 |
| 1992 | 26.7 | 17.7 | 9.0 | 9.8 |
| 1993 | 26.9 | 17.7 | 8.8 | 9.4 |
| 1994 | 25.9 | 16.8 | 9.3 | 10.4 |
| 1995 | 26.6 | 17.4 | 10.3 | 11.8 |
| 1996 | 24.5 | 17.7 | 10.3 | 10.9 |
| 1997 | 25.0 | 16.7 | 11.8 | 12.0 |
| 1998 | 25.1 | 17.3 | 11.4 | 13.3 |
| 1999 | 25.4 | 16.4 | 12.3 | 13.5 |
| 2000 | 24.8 | 17.2 | 12.8 | 13.1 |
| 2001 | 23.4 | 16.5 | 13.2 | 13.4 |
| 2002 | 25.5 | 16.6 | 13.4 | 13.3 |
| 2003 | 26.3 | 18.7 | 14.1 | 13.4 |
| 2004 | 25.2 | 17.7 | 14.0 | 12.4 |
| 2005 | 26.6 | 18.5 | 14.0 | 13.8 |
| 2006 | 26.8 | 19.0 | 13.9 | 12.8 |
| 2007 | 26.2 | 18.7 | 13.6 | 12.7 |
| 2008 | 26.9 | 19.7 | 13.7 | 11.9 |
| 2009 | 27.2 | 19.4 | 13.6 | 12.5 |
| 2010 | 28.4 | 20.9 | 14.2 | 13.4 |
| 2011 | 28.6 | 20.7 | 13.3 | 13.3 |
| 2012 | 28.1 | 20.8 | 12.7 | 12.6 |
| 2013 | 29.8 | 22.4 | 13.6 | 13.6 |
| 2014 | 29.9 | 22.5 | 13.9 | 14.4 |
| 2015 | 28.6 | 21.0 | 14.2 | 14.9 |
| 2016 | 29.1 | 21.9 | 13.6 | 14.0 |
| 2017 | 28.5 | 22.1 | 13.3 | 14.5 |
| 2018 | 29.7 | 21.6 | 14.4 | 14.0 |
| 2019 | 29.8 | 23.1 | 13.2 | 14.6 |
| 2020 | 32.3 | 26.0 | 15.3 | 15.9 |
| 2021 | 34.7 | 27.9 | 14.5 | 17.7 |
| 2022 | 32.3 | 24.7 | 14.8 | 15.8 |
| 2023 | 34.5 | 26.6 | 14.7 | 15.0 |
| 2024 | 33.8 | 27.2 | 14.2 | 14.6 |
| 2025 | 35.7 | 27.3 | 14.8 | 14.9 |
| Year | Under 30 | 30 to 34 | 35 and over | All first births | 35 and over (in every 100) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017 | 7,876 | 7,328 | 3,366 | 18,570 | 18.1 |
| 2018 | 7,544 | 7,272 | 3,395 | 18,211 | 18.6 |
| 2019 | 7,317 | 7,676 | 3,559 | 18,552 | 19.2 |
| 2020 | 6,917 | 8,010 | 3,487 | 18,414 | 18.9 |
| 2021 | 6,094 | 8,074 | 3,727 | 17,895 | 20.8 |
| 2022 | 5,725 | 7,541 | 3,473 | 16,739 | 20.7 |
| 2023 | 5,162 | 6,965 | 3,425 | 15,552 | 22.0 |
| 2024 | 4,849 | 7,071 | 3,849 | 15,769 | 24.4 |
2020 and 2021 were COVID-19 years, so read those rows with care.
The boring bit
Where the data comes from
SingStat Table Builder, downloaded on 11 Oct 2026: M830182 (median age at first marriage of resident grooms and brides), M810741 (median age of mothers at first birth), M830192 (median age at first marriage by education), M830180 (first marriages by the education of the groom and the bride) and M810641 (residents aged 20 and over by sex, age group and marital status). Ages are medians: half are younger and half are older. "Single" means never married. In M810641, 1990, 2000, 2010 and 2020 come from the Census of Population, 1995, 2005, 2015 and 2025 from the General Household Survey, and every other year from the Comprehensive June Labour Force Survey. First births by the mother's age, 2017 to 2024, are from ICA's Registration of Births and Deaths publication (Table 20), copied into a file by us; this is the one table the script did not download.
What is not claimed
- This does not say why Singaporeans marry later, or whether that is good or bad.
- The gap between the typical mum and the typical bride is the difference between two typical ages. They are different groups of people, and some couples have no children, so it is not how long any couple waits.
- The headline ages are for residents. The graduate counts, the median age by education and ICA's first births cover all first marriages or births registered in Singapore.
- Being single in the 40s is the share who have never married at that age. It does not say who will marry later, or who chose not to.
- 35 or older is counted from ICA's age bands. We do not have it year by year before 2017, so it is not in the picker.
- From 2022 ICA counts the order of births only from what parents declare, so 2022 is shown in the table but not used in comparisons.
- 2020 and 2021 were COVID-19 years.
Coverage
Every year from 1990 to 2025 is in the ages, the graduate counts and the single-in-the-40s figures: 36 years. The 35-or-older share covers 2017 to 2024 only. ICA's age bands add up to ICA's total for every year except 2019, where they differ by 1 (18,552 and 18,553); we use the sum of the bands. In SingStat's education tables the total can include marriages whose education is not known, so the groups can add up to a little less than the total.
Report an error. Corrections are logged publicly with a date.
How we did it
- Downloaded five SingStat tables through Table Builder's public interface and saved them as files.
- Read the median ages of resident grooms, brides and mothers at first birth, in tenths of a year so that 29.4 minus 25.3 is exact.
- Took one median from another, year by year: the mum's minus the bride's, and the groom's minus the bride's.
- Counted couples who are both university graduates and divided by all first marriages that year.
- Worked out the share never married for men and for women aged 40 to 49: single divided by single, married, widowed and divorced added together.
- Added ICA's bands from 35 to 54 and divided by all first births, comparing 2017 to 2021 and 2023 to 2024 separately because of the change in method.
Show the Python code
import csv, math
def compute(data):
def rows(name):
return list(csv.DictReader(open(f'{data}/{name}')))
tenths = lambda s: int(round(float(s) * 10)) # ages in tenths of a year, so 29.4 - 25.3 is exact
half_up = lambda x: int(math.floor(x + 0.5)) # round half up, everywhere a figure is shown
ages = rows('ages.csv')
years = [int(r['year']) for r in ages]
groom, bride, mother = ([tenths(r[k]) for r in ages] for k in ('groom', 'bride', 'mother'))
gap_mother_bride = [m - b for m, b in zip(mother, bride)] # how much older the typical first-time mum is than the typical bride
gap_groom_bride = [g - b for g, b in zip(groom, bride)]
edu = rows('edu_counts.csv') # first marriages by the education of the groom and bride
total = [int(r['total']) for r in edu]
both_university = [int(r['both_university']) for r in edu]
edu_count = {k: [int(r[k]) for r in edu] for k in edu[0] if k != 'year'}
eage = rows('edu_ages.csv') # median age at first marriage by education (all first marriages in Singapore)
edu_age = {k: [tenths(r[k]) for r in eage] for k in eage[0] if k != 'year'}
marital = rows('marital.csv') # residents by marital status; "single" means never married
def single_share(prefix): # per cent of the group, in tenths of a per cent
out = []
for r in marital:
parts = [int(r[f'{prefix}_{k}']) for k in ('single', 'married', 'widowed', 'divorced')]
out.append(half_up(1000 * parts[0] / sum(parts)))
return out
single = {k: single_share(k) for k in ('men_30_39', 'women_30_39', 'men_40_49', 'women_40_49')}
ica = rows('ica_first_births.csv') # ICA: first births by the mother's age, 2017 to 2024
over35 = {int(r['year']): sum(int(r[k]) for k in ('35_39', '40_44', '45_49', '50_54')) for r in ica}
births = {int(r['year']): sum(int(r[k]) for k in ('under_15', '15_19', '20_24', '25_29', '30_34', '35_39', '40_44', '45_49', '50_54')) for r in ica}
return dict(years=years, groom=groom, bride=bride, mother=mother, gap_mother_bride=gap_mother_bride, gap_groom_bride=gap_groom_bride,
total=total, both_university=both_university, edu_count=edu_count, edu_age=edu_age, single=single, over35=over35, births=births)
What could make it wrong: survey years have sampling error, ICA's method changed in 2022, the ICA table was copied in by us, and a median says nothing about how spread out the ages are. As a check, we worked out the headline figures a second way, straight from the downloaded files, and both routes give the same numbers.
No machine learning was needed. The question was "how old, then and now", which the published medians answer directly.
Sources: SingStat Table Builder (opens in a new tab) (tables M830182, M810741, M830192, M830180 and M810641) and ICA Statistics (opens in a new tab) (Registration of Births and Deaths), downloaded or copied on 11 Oct 2026. Contains information from SingStat Table Builder accessed on 11 Oct 2026, made available under the terms of the Singapore Open Data Licence version 1.0 (licence (opens in a new tab)).