In 2005 1,607 couples got married in Iceland. Furthermore, there were thirteen registered partnerships, six female and seven male couples. The number of divorces was 560. As in the other Nordic countries marriage rate is rather low in Iceland. The marriage rate was 5.4 per 1,000 population in 2005 compared to 5.2 in 2004. The crude divorce rate was 1.9 per 1,000 which is considerably lower than in all the other Nordic countries. Total divorce rate was slightly below 40% as compared to 55% in Sweden and 45% in Denmark.

Most couples in Iceland marry after having lived together in a consensual union for a few years. Of those marrying, nearly 90 per cent had lived together prior to marriage. In 2005, 1,774 couples reported consensual union at the National registry.

In an international perspective, age at marriage is relatively high in Iceland. During the period 2001-2005, modal age at first marriage was 29 years for men and 27 years for women. Age at marriage has increased considerably in recent decades. During the early 1960s modal age at first marriage was 21 years for men and 19 years for women.