DDI_ZAF_2023_MD_v01_M DataFirst Development Data Group 2025-03-27 Nesstar Publisher Identical to a metadata (zaf-statssa-md-2023-v1) published on DataFirst microdata repository (https://www.datafirst.uct.ac.za/dataportal/index.php/catalog). Some of the metadata fields have been edited. Marriages and Divorces 2023 MD 2023 ZAF_2023_MD_v01_M Statistics South Africa Department of Home Affairs Department of Justice and Constitutional Development Copyright 2013, Statistics South Africa Nesstar Publisher Socio-Economic/Monitoring Survey Version 01: Edited, anonymised dataset for public distribution This version was retrieved by DataFirst on 27 March 2025. South Africa National coverage The lowest level of geographic aggregation covered by the data is province Individuals The data covers all civil marriages, civil unions and customary marriages that were recorded by the Department of Home Affairs and all divorce applications that were granted by the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development in 2023 in South Africa. Administrative records Other DataFirst Statistics South Africa. Marriages and Divorces 2023 [dataset]. Version 1. Pretoria: Statistics South Africa [producer], 2025. Cape Town: DataFirst [distributor], 2025. DOI: https://doi.org/10.25828/a17m-kp44 Public access data for use under a Creative Commons CC-BY (Attribution-only) License md-2023-civil-marriages-v1.NSDstat 0 9 Nesstar 200801 md-2023-civil-unions-v1.NSDstat 0 6 Nesstar 200801 md-2023-customary-marriages-v1.NSDstat 0 6 Nesstar 200801 md-2023-divorces-v1.NSDstat 0 24 Nesstar 200801 Name of Province 0 0 1 Western Cape 2 Eastern Cape 3 Northern Cape 4 Free State 5 KwaZulu-Natal 6 North West 7 Gauteng 8 Mpumalanga 9 Limpopo 98 Outside RSA 99 Unspecified Month of marriage 0 0 1 January 2 February 3 March 4 April 5 May 6 June 7 July 8 August 9 September 10 October 11 November 12 December Year of marriage 0 0 2023 2023 Way of solemnisation 0 0 1 Religious 2 DHA 9 Unspecified Marital status of Bridegroom 0 0 1 Never married 2 Divorcee 3 Widower 9 Unspecified Marital status of Bride 0 0 1 Never married 2 Divorcee 3 Widow 9 Unspecified Age of Bridegroom 0 0 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 81 81 82 82 83 83 84 84 85 85 86 86 87 87 88 88 89 89 90 90 91 91 92 92 93 93 94 94 95 95 96 96 98 98 Age of Bride 0 0 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 81 81 82 82 83 83 84 84 85 85 86 86 87 87 88 88 89 89 92 92 Age difference between bridegroom and bride 0 0 0 Spouses same age 1 Bridegroom older 2 Bridegroom younger Name of Province 0 0 1 Western Cape 2 Eastern Cape 3 Northern Cape 4 Free State 5 KwaZulu-Natal 6 North West 7 Gauteng 8 Mpumalanga 9 Limpopo 98 Outside RSA 99 Unspecified Month of Registration 0 0 1 January 2 February 3 March 4 April 5 May 6 June 7 July 8 August 9 September 10 October 11 November 12 December Year of Registration 0 0 2023 2023 Age of Spouses-1 0 0 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 81 81 84 84 87 87 Age of Spouses-2 0 0 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 77 77 80 80 87 87 Age difference between Spouses-1 and Spouses-2 0 0 0 Spouses same age 1 Spouses-1 older 2 Spouses-1 younger Name of Province 0 0 1 Western Cape 2 Eastern Cape 3 Northern Cape 4 Free State 5 KwaZulu-Natal 6 North West 7 Gauteng 8 Mpumalanga 9 Limpopo 97 Unknown 98 Outside RSA 99 Unspecified Year of Marriage 0 0 1944 1944 1949 1949 1950 1950 1951 1951 1952 1952 1954 1954 1955 1955 1956 1956 1957 1957 1958 1958 1959 1959 1960 1960 1961 1961 1962 1962 1963 1963 1964 1964 1965 1965 1966 1966 1967 1967 1968 1968 1969 1969 1970 1970 1971 1971 1972 1972 1973 1973 1974 1974 1975 1975 1976 1976 1977 1977 1978 1978 1979 1979 1980 1980 1981 1981 1982 1982 1983 1983 1984 1984 1985 1985 1986 1986 1987 1987 1988 1988 1989 1989 1990 1990 1991 1991 1992 1992 1993 1993 1994 1994 1995 1995 1996 1996 1997 1997 1998 1998 1999 1999 2000 2000 2001 2001 2002 2002 2003 2003 2004 2004 2005 2005 2006 2006 2007 2007 2008 2008 2009 2009 2010 2010 2011 2011 2012 2012 2013 2013 2014 2014 2015 2015 2016 2016 2017 2017 2018 2018 2019 2019 2020 2020 2021 2021 2022 2022 2023 2023 Year of Registration 0 0 2023 2023 0 0 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 80 80 81 81 83 83 84 84 85 85 87 87 90 90 999 Unspecified 0 0 6 6 8 8 10 10 11 11 12 12 13 13 14 14 15 15 16 16 17 17 18 18 19 19 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 70 70 73 73 82 82 83 83 86 86 999 Unspecified Age difference between bridegroom and bride 0 0 0 Spouses same age 1 Bridegroom older 2 Bridegroom younger 9 Unspecified Name of Province 0 0 1 Western Cape 2 Eastern Cape 3 Northern Cape 4 Free State 5 KwaZulu-Natal 6 North West 7 Gauteng 8 Mpumalanga 9 Limpopo Population group of husband 0 0 1 Black African 2 Coloured 3 Indian/Asian 4 White 5 Other 9 Unspecified Population group of wife 0 0 1 Black African 2 Coloured 3 Indian/Asian 4 White 5 Other 9 Unspecified Population group of couple 0 0 1 Black African 2 Coloured 3 Indian/Asian 4 White 5 Mixed 9 Unspecified Occupation of Husband 0 0 0 Unemployed 1 Professional, semi-professional and technical occupations 2 Managers and administrators 3 Clerical and sales occupations 4 Transport, delivery and communications 5 Service occupations 6 Farming and related occupations 7 Artisans, apprentice and related occupations 8 Production foreman, mine and quarry workers 99 Unspecified Occupation of wife 0 0 0 Unemployed 1 Professional, semi-professional and technical occupations 2 Managers and administrators 3 Clerical and sales occupations 4 Transport, delivery and communications 5 Service occupations 6 Farming and related occupations 7 Artisans, apprentice and related occupations 8 Production foreman, mine and quarry workers 99 Unspecified Sex of plaintiff 0 0 1 Male 2 Female 3 Both 9 Unspecified Marital status of husband 0 0 1 Never married 2 Widower 3 Divorcee 9 Unspecified Marital status of wife 0 0 1 Never married 2 Widow 3 Divorcee 9 Unspecified Number of times husband married 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 7 7 99 Unspecified Number of times wife married 0 0 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 4 5 5 6 6 99 Unspecified Age of husband 0 0 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 81 81 82 82 83 83 84 84 85 85 86 86 87 87 89 89 90 90 94 94 999 Unspecified Age of wife 0 0 20 20 21 21 22 22 23 23 24 24 25 25 26 26 27 27 28 28 29 29 30 30 31 31 32 32 33 33 34 34 35 35 36 36 37 37 38 38 39 39 40 40 41 41 42 42 43 43 44 44 45 45 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 50 50 51 51 52 52 53 53 54 54 55 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 61 62 62 63 63 64 64 65 65 66 66 67 67 68 68 69 69 70 70 71 71 72 72 73 73 74 74 75 75 76 76 77 77 78 78 79 79 80 80 81 81 82 82 83 83 84 84 85 85 999 Unspecified Way of solemnisation 0 0 1 Religious 2 DHA 9 Unspecified Matrimonial property system 0 0 1 1. In community of property 2 2. Out of community of property 3 3. Out of community of property (excluding accrual system) 4 4. Out of community of property (including accrual system) 5 5. Other 9 9. Unspecified Month of marriage 0 0 1 1. January 2 2. February 3 3. March 4 4. April 5 5. May 6 6. June 7 7. July 8 8. August 9 9. September 10 10. October 11 11. November 12 12. December 99 99. Unspecified Year of marriage 0 0 Number of children involved 0 0 Month of divorce 0 0 1 1. January 2 2. February 3 3. March 4 4. April 5 5. May 6 6. June 7 7. July 8 8. August 9 9. September 10 10. October 11 11. November 12 12. December 99 99. Unspecified Year of divorce 0 0 Duration of marriage 0 0 Type of marriage 0 0 1 1. Civil marriage 2 2. Customary marriage 3 3. Civil union 4 4. Other 9 9. Unspecified Involved in polygamous marriage 0 0 1 1. Yes 2 2. No 9 9. Unspecified Main grounds for divorce 0 0 1 1. Adultery 2 2. Abuse 3 3. Childlessness 4 4. Desertion 5 5. Financial difficulties 6 6. Medical Insanity 7 7. Imprisonment 9 9. Unspecified