The two bar charts illustrate the percentages of men and women who got married in a particular country in 1996 and 2008, broken down into six age groups.
Overall, people in both years were most likely to marry in their late twenties or early thirties, although the data for 2008 suggest a clear shift towards later marriage. Across all age bands, women consistently married earlier than men, while men were more heavily represented in the older categories.
In 1996, marriage was most common among those aged 25-29, accounting for approximately 12% of women and just under 11% of men. The second-largest proportion for women was in the 20-24 group, at around 6%, whereas only about 2% of men married at this age. The proportions then declined steadily in the older age ranges, although men were consistently more likely than women to marry after the age of 30.
By 2008, this pattern had shifted slightly. While the 25-29 group remained the largest for women (around 12%), the 30-34 category became the most significant for men, rising to roughly 11%. Marriage rates among 20-24-year-olds fell for both genders, especially for women, whose figure halved to about 3%. Conversely, the proportions for the 30-34, 35-39, and 40-44 groups all increased, particularly for men, indicating a continued trend towards marrying later in life.