UK Marriage Statistics 2011

The most up to date figures available from the Office of National Statistics for Marriages in England and Wales are from 2009, and these are based on provisional figures, to be updated in 2012. The provisional number of UK weddings in 2009 is 266,950. This is a fall of 2.3 per cent compared with 2008 when there were 273,207 weddings. The provisional number of civil ceremonies in 2009 was 155,860, accounting for over two-thirds (67 per cent) of all marriages. The proportion of civil ceremonies first exceeded religious ceremonies in 1992. Over the past decade, the mean age at marriage for both men and women has increased by nearly two years, although 2009 saw very slight decreases for both men and women. The provisional mean age for men marrying in 2009 was 36.3 years, a decrease from 36.5 years in 2008. The provisional mean age for women marrying in 2009 was 33.7 years, a decrease from 33.8 years in 2008. Provisional figures show that in 2009 there were 150,600 marriages in England and Wales which were first marriages for both partners. This accounted for 65 per cent of all marriages. This number peaked in 1940 at 426,100 when 91 per cent of all marriages were the first for both partners. Remarriages for both parties accounted for 16 per cent of all marriages in 2009. The remaining 19 per cent of marriages were to couples where only one partner had been married previously.