Marriages in England and Wales fell by nearly 10 per cent as more couples opted for civil partnerships or delayed tying the knot, it emerged today.
Official data show there were 224,402 marriages in 2023, down by 9.1 per cent from 246,897 the year before.
However, over the same period civil partnerships surged by nearly 10 per cent to 7,547 – up from 6,879.
The average age for people of opposite sexes getting married was 34.8 for men and 33 for women – among the highest recorded.
The Office for National Statistics (ONS), which published the data today, said the latest drop in marriages followed a ‘post-pandemic spike’ in 2022, most likely due to weddings which had been postponed or delayed during the Covid-19 lockdown.
The latest fall means the number of marriages that took place in England and Wales has plummeted 44 per cent between 1973 and 2023.
However, separate analysis by the Marriage Foundation think tank found that there are as many as 100,000 ‘missing marriages’ – suggesting the idea of marriage remains important to couples.
While the number of marriages in England and Wales fell, more people are getting a civil partnership like that entered into by Elton John, with his partner David Furnish
Marriages fell nearly 10 per cent, from 246,897 in 2022 to 224,402 in 2023, the ONS data found
This refers to the number of couples who postponed their wedding during the pandemic but who are yet to tie the knot.
Harry Benson, research director of the Marriage Foundation, said the year-on-year drop in weddings ‘conceals the long tail of lockdown’, adding: ‘At least 100,000 couples whose weddings were cancelled during lockdown may still not have rearranged their weddings.
‘Compared to 2019, the year before lockdown, there has been a combined surplus of just 18,000 weddings in the three years post-lockdown.
‘This surplus falls far short of the 130,000 drop in weddings during 2020, the highest drop in Western Europe due to the draconian restrictions.
‘That so many couples appear to have abandoned their wedding plans is incredibly sad for them, their friends and families. But it may also have a serious knock-on effect on commitment.
‘There is an important psychological purpose to weddings. When couples announce their plans in public to the rest of the world, they receive support and affirmation for the most risky decision of their lives, to choose one person and reject all others.
‘We retain hope that the cancellation of wedding plans among so many couples may be a temporary postponement while couples have babies or buy a property.’
Kara Steel, of the ONS, said: ‘There was a post-pandemic spike in marriages in 2022, perhaps due to weddings postponed or delayed from lockdown, but 2023 saw a return to the overall trend of declining marriage.’
While August remained the most popular month for people to tie the knot in 2023, the day when the most weddings were held moved from July to early autumnal celebrations on September 2.
This may have been an attempt by cash-strapped couples to save money amid the high cost of weddings.
Saturdays remained the most common day of the week to get married.
Opposite-sex marriages remained the most common type of legal partnership formed in 2023, accounting for 216,901 – or 93.5 per cent.
For same-sex marriages, men were aged on average 37.4 years old, while women were 34 years old, supporting the trend of same-sex partners forming marriages at an older age than opposite-sex couples.
For opposite-sex civil partnerships, men were aged 55.2 years old on average, while women were 52.9 years old.
Same-sex couples entering civil partnerships tended to be slightly younger, with men on average 48.7 years old and women 42.5 years old.
The South East had the most marriages taking place in 2023, accounting for 16.1% – or 36,136 of all marriages in England and Wales that year.
Lambeth (London) saw the biggest increase in marriages, increasing by 30.6% when compared with 2022, from 666 to 870 marriages. Denbighshire (Wales) had the largest decrease, with marriages falling by 27.3%, from 611 to 444.
Among couples forming a civil partnership, London was the most popular area for formations to be registered, accounting for 24.5% (1,847) of all civil partnership formations in 2023.
Compared with 2022, London saw a 16.1% increase in same-sex civil partnership formations and a 17.9% increase for opposite-sex civil partnership formations.
The capital had a 16.1% increase for same-sex civil partnerships and a 17.9% increase for opposite-sex civil partnerships in 2023, compared with the year before.
