The lack of divorce and same-sex marriage in the Philippines was among the factors cited by Filipinos for the Philippines’ declining marriage rate.
Latest data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) show that registered marriages in the country fell by 10.2% in 2024 compared to 2023.
In 2024, only 371,825 marriages were registered nationwide, down from 414,213 in 2023.
The PSA reported that the Crude Marriage Rate dropped to 3.3 or three marriages per 1,000 population, down from the 3.7 marriages per 1,000 in the previous year.
The latest figure marks the second consecutive year of decline, keeping marriage registrations below pre-pandemic levels.
PSA also noted that in 2024, the largest proportion of registered marriages involved couples aged 25 to 29.
The median age at marriage remained 28 for women and 30 for men, consistent with the previous year.
The PSA also reported that civil marriages continue to be the most common form of union, accounting for 41.8% (155,604 marriages) of all registered marriages in 2024, slightly down from 42.9% in 2023.
February, the month of love, remains the most popular month for weddings among Filipinos, followed by June and December.
On divorce, same-sex marriage
Meanwhile, the continuous decline in the marriage rate among Filipinos has sparked online discussions about why many are choosing not to tie the knot.
Some pointed to the lack of divorce in the country, a legal procedure that formally ends a marriage and allows the parties to remarry, as a possible factor.
The Philippines and Vatican City remain the only places in the world that do not recognize divorce.
“Which makes perfect sense for a country without a divorce law. Bad for the economy, yes, but without divorce, most marriages here have been more like a ‘locking each other up’ type of thing (which results in many abuse cases, especially towards women),” a Pinoy commented.
“The only country with no divorce options?” another wrote, in response to the report of a declining marriage rate.
“I mean, that’s what you get for not legalizing divorce, man,” a different X user commented.
“If divorce wasn’t illegal and annulments being affordable and NOT UNGODLY EXPENSIVE. [Plus], having a proper child support system, maaaaaybbeeee, just maybe, more people would consider it,” another Pinoy wrote.
“If the government and church want to make divorce illegal, why would women want to get married? I would want to live in and get to know my [boyfriend] really well before getting married first else, ’cause divorce is illegal,” a different X user commented.
Others believe the marriage rate could increase if the Philippines legalized same-sex marriage.
“Yeah, ’cause queer marriage isn’t legal yet,” one commented.
“Because the straight couples who can, won’t, and the gay couples who want to, can’t,” another wrote.
“Funniest conclusion to this is if the Philippines legalises gay marriage, just to keep the percent of people getting married up,” a different X user commented.
As of July 2025, two measures seeking to revive the absolute divorce bill passed by the House of Representatives in the 19th Congress have been refiled by three party-list groups.
These are House Bills 210 and 108, which provide common grounds for granting an absolute divorce, including physical violence, drug addiction, homosexuality, as well as grounds for annulment under Article 45 of the Family Code.
Rep. JC Abalos (4Ps party-list) said that the bill “aims to provide spouses in irreparably broken marriages a legal avenue for dissolution, thereby safeguarding children from marital strife and empowering vulnerable spouses, particularly in abusive relationships, to rebuild their lives.”
He also said that the termination of marriage “occurs not due to any defect or omission at the time of the marriage ceremony, but rather as a result of circumstances that arise during the marriage itself, which is a reality that most people often fail to acknowledge.”
The country only allows couples to annul their marriage or enter into legal separation.
Annullment is a legal process in which a marriage is declared voidable due to certain legal defects present at the time it was celebrated. It treats the marriage as if it had never legally existed, while protecting the rights of any children. Once annulled, the parties return to single status and may remarry.
In contrast, legal separation does not dissolve the marriage. Spouses remain legally married and cannot remarry, but they are allowed to live separately and divide their properties.
On the topic of same-sex marriage, numerous bills have been filed in Congress — such as the House Bill 6595, or the Civil Partnership Act in 2019, and the Senate Bill 222, or the SOGIE Equality Bill that have seen iterations since 2000 — but none have been passed into law.
