Key takeaways
- Families still lead: 95% of women in the IHDS said their family was involved in choosing their husband, and 55% said they had some say themselves.
- Choice rises with education and varies by region: 9% of college-educated women chose their husband themselves, against 3% with no schooling, and 34% in the North-East.
- Among urban couples the picture is changing fast: WeddingWire India's share of arranged marriages fell from 68% in 2020 to 44% in 2023.
- Weddings are India's second-largest retail category after food and grocery, by Jefferies' estimate.
- Divorce is rare but under-counted: the 2011 Census found 13.6 lakh divorced people and 35.4 lakh separated, two-thirds of them women.
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What percentage of marriages in India are arranged?
There's no single official figure, but every large survey finds that most marriages are arranged. The best long-running source is the India Human Development Survey (IHDS), run by NCAER and the University of Maryland. In its 2011–12 round, about 5% of women said they had chosen their husband without any input from their family, about the same as in the 2005 round.
That doesn't mean women had no say. In the same survey, 95% said their family was involved in choosing their husband, and 55% said they also had some input. Most Indian marriages sit somewhere between “arranged” and “love”: families introduce, couples decide.
| Group | Share |
|---|---|
| All women | About 5% |
| College graduates | 9% |
| No schooling | 3% |
| North-East India | 34% |
| South India | Just under 10% |
Are love marriages increasing in India?
Among younger, urban couples, yes. WeddingWire India surveys couples who are engaged or recently married and use its platform. In 2020, 68% said their marriage was arranged; in 2023, 44% did. Its respondents are mostly from big cities, so this shows a shift among urban couples rather than across the country.
Nationally, change is slower. The household data shows arranged marriage as the norm, and the share of women choosing alone barely moved between the 2005 and 2011–12 IHDS rounds. A newer national round would show whether the urban shift has spread. Which kind of marriage lasts longer?
How many weddings happen in India every year, and what do they cost?
An estimated 8 to 10 million a year, more than any other country, according to a 2024 report by the brokerage Jefferies. Indians spend close to ₹10 lakh crore ($130 billion) a year on weddings, nearly double the US wedding market of $70 billion, though below China's $170 billion. That makes weddings the second-largest retail category in India, behind only food and grocery.
The average wedding costs around ₹12 lakh, more than three times the average annual household income of ₹4 lakh. Jewellery is the biggest single line: 50 to 55% of all jewellery sold in India, by weight, is wedding jewellery. From roka to wedding: how engagement works.
What is the divorce rate in India?
Divorce is rare in India, and official counts understate how many marriages end. The 2011 Census, the latest full count, recorded about 13.6 lakh divorced people and 35.4 lakh people separated from their spouse, in a population of about 121 crore. Together that's roughly 49 lakh people, and two-thirds of them are women.
Separation outnumbers divorce by more than two to one, because many couples who live apart never go to court. For how the process works, see divorce and talaq in India. For what happens inside marriages that don't end, see what the surveys say about affairs.