Marriages down by 9% in England and Wales after post-pandemic spike

Marriages in England and Wales have fallen by 9% in a continued declining trend, the latest figures show.

But civil partnerships rose by almost the same percentage, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

There were 224,402 marriages in 2023, down from 246,897 in 2022 – a fall of 9.1%.

Meanwhile, there were 7,547 civil partnerships in 2023, up 9.7% from 6,879 in 2022.

The ONS said the latest drop in marriages followed a “post-pandemic spike” in 2022, most likely due to weddings which had been postponed or delayed in lockdown during the coronavirus pandemic.

While August remained the most popular month for people to tie the knot, the most common day for weddings moved from summer nuptials in July to early autumnal celebrations on September 2.

Kara Steel, from the ONS, said:  “The number of marriages has been steadily decreasing over the last 50 years, dropping 44% between 1973 and 2023.

“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.

“In 2023, the most popular day for weddings shifted from July to the 2nd of September, although August remained the most popular month overall.”

Opposite-sex marriages remained the most common type of legal partnership formed in 2023, accounting for 216,901 or 93.5%.

Harry Benson, research director of the Marriage Foundation, said the year-on-year drop in opposite-sex weddings “conceals the long tail of lockdown”, suggesting many of those whose weddings could not take place in lockdown might still not have rearranged their nuptials.

He said: “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.”

The average age at which people embarked on an opposite-sex marriage in 2023 remained among the highest recorded, at 34.8 years old for men and 33 years old for women.

For same-sex marriages, men were aged on average 37.4 years old, while women were 34 years old, the ONS said, “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.

London was the most popular area for civil partnerships, with about a quarter (1,847) of all those in 2023 taking place there.

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.