IBGE survey shows that, in the age group up to 39 years, stable unions surpass marriage in proportion of homes
For the first time, the proportion of Brazilians living in a consensual marital union exceeds the proportion of religious and civil marriages. In 2022, 38.9% of conjugal unions were consensual, that is, the spouses did not enter into marriage. There are 35.1 million people in situations such as stable unions.
This proportion was 28.6% in 2000 and 36.4% in 2010. The finding is in the Nuptiality and Family supplement, released on Wednesday (November 5, 2025) by IBGE (Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics).
The comparative data are from years in which there was a demographic census. In the opposite direction to consensual unions, civil and religious marriages went from 49.4% of the total number of unions in 2000 to 37.9% in 2022. In the 1970 Census, they were 64.5%.
Religious-only marriages fell from 4.4% to 2.6% in the same period. Civil marriage alone rose from 17.5% to 20.5%.
Going back further in time, the 1960 Census showed that 60.5% of relationships were formalized with civil and religious marriage, while consensual relationships were only 6.4%.
Profile of consensual unions
The survey shows that consensual unions surpass civil and religious marriage in groups of people up to 39 years old.
In the 20 to 29 year old group, consensual unions are present in 24.8% of households with spouses. Civil and religious marriages are 5.8%.
In the group aged 30 to 39, the proportion is 28.5% of consensual unions and 17.8% of civil and religious marriages.
In the 50 to 59 age group, 22.1% of unions are civil and religious marriages, and consensual marriages account for 13%.
When looking at the yield per capita (per person) of spouses, cases of consensual unions surpass all other forms of marriages among those who received up to the minimum wage.
When classified by religion, consensual unions account for more than half (62.5%) of non-religious couples. Among Catholics, they are 40.9%. Among evangelicals, 28.7%.
According to IBGE researcher Luciane Barros Longo, the growth of consensual unions shows a behavioral change in the country: “We can say that consensual unions are still a younger phenomenon, they are more related to people with lower incomes”.
A 2017 Federal Supreme Court decision determined that stable unions and marriage have the same legal value in terms of inheritance law. One difference is that a stable union does not change marital status. Example: the person remains single, divorced or widowed.
More than half in union
The IBGE survey reveals that, in 2022, just over half (51.3%) of the population aged 10 or over lived in a marital relationship. There were 90.3 million people. In the 2000 Census, it was 49.5%.
People who never lived in a conjugal union were 38.6% in 2010 and 30.1% in 2022. Those who did not live in a conjugal union, but had already lived previously, were 11.9% in 2010 and 18.6% in 2022.
The Census collected data from people aged 10 and over. The survey found 34,200 people aged 10 to 14, 77% of whom were female.
“The Census, in fact, deals with reality. So that’s it, 34,000 children are in a marital union. We can’t know just from this data, for example, if it’s with another child, if it’s with an adult. We would have to do a more specific study for that”says researcher Luciane Barros Longo.
Also IBGE researcher Marcio Mitsuo Minamiguchi adds that there is a concentration of these cases in the final age of the age group: “If you took each age, it would definitely be very concentrated around 14 years old”.
In relation to the population aged 15 and over who live in a marital relationship, IBGE found that the average age of the first union is 25 years. When separating by sex, women have a lower average age (23.6 years) than men (26.3 years).
Who do they relate to?
The Census also presents information on marital selectivity. The analysis indicates that the largest portion (69.2%) of white women in a marital union are married to white partners.
Among black women, the majority (48%) have relationships with brown men. Among brown women, 69.2% live with men who are also brown.
The analysis of men’s marital selectivity shows that, among white men, 71.5% live with white women.
Among black people, the majority (39.3%) have relationships with black women. In the brown group, 70.2% are linked to brown women.
With information from .
