Singapore saw a 6.2% decline in marriages in 2025, with 24,688 unions recorded, marking the third straight year of decline since a post-pandemic peak in 2022 [1, 2, 3, 4]. Civil marriages contributed nearly 90% of this decrease, falling from 21,144 in 2024 to 19,682 in 2025. Muslim marriages also declined from 5,184 in 2024 to 5,006 in 2025 [1, 2, 3, 4].
The largest drop appeared among couples aged 25 to 34 across both civil and Muslim marriages [1, 2, 3, 4]. Despite fewer marriages, the 2025 Ministry of Social and Family Development (MSF) survey found nearly 95% of married respondents reported being happily married. About 88% said they rarely or never considered divorce, while 78% frequently confided in their spouses and 93% felt their relationships were going well [1, 2, 4]. Only 3.7% reported being a little unhappy and 0.5% extremely unhappy in marriage [1, 2, 4].
The median age at first marriage rose over the past decade, reaching 31.1 years for grooms and 29.6 years for brides in 2025 [3]. Around 27.3% of citizen marriages involved a Singaporean marrying a non-resident, with 70.9% of these unions having a Singaporean groom and foreign bride [3].
MSF introduced marital quality measures in its 2025 survey to guide policy. The survey also found 90.7% of families reported moderate to high resilience, up from 85.9% in 2023. MSF noted, "A resilient family makes for better individual well-being and stronger communities. It is important that we continue our efforts in nurturing resilient families" [3].
Experts pointed to challenges singles face marrying due to work-life balance and societal pressures and called for support to encourage earlier marriages and policies to make marriage more attractive [1, 2, 4].
The Ministry released the 2025 family trends report, including the new marital quality data, on July 10, 2026 [1, 2, 3, 4].
