5 May 2014

Marriages drop despite same sex law

11:59 am on 5 May 2014

New figures show 209 same-sex couples were married last year, after gay marriage was made legal in August.

But that was a small proportion of the 19,237 marriages registered, the lowest number of marriages since 2001.

Paul McCarthy and Trent Kandler were among the first same-sex couples to wed.

Paul McCarthy and Trent Kandler were among the first same-sex couples to wed. Photo: RNZ

About 40 percent of the same-sex marriages registered in New Zealand were couples from overseas.

The figures show 8279 couples divorced last year.

Statistics New Zealand says 35 percent of the couples married in 1988 were divorced before their silver wedding anniversary.