FOI Ref: FOI-2023-1121
You asked
I would like to understand the impact of the pandemic on marriage and divorce rates in the UK. Please provide the number of divorces and weddings filed from 2017 to as recent as possible. Preferably for the whole of the UK, but England would suffice. Please also break this down geographically via region, area, district or even county.
We said
Thank you for your Freedom of Information (FOI) request.
Marriages
We publish annual statistics on marriages that took place in England and Wales (not the UK as a whole). You can use the Nomis webservice to see the number of same-sex marriages that took place in England and Wales, broken down by geographical area. Please visit the following link to our NOMIS webservice: Marriages of opposite-sex couples in England and Wales by area of occurrence, broad age group, previous legal partnership status and ceremony type.
Use the 'Make selections' menu on the left-hand side of the webpage to select the variables for which you would like to see data.
For example, in 'Geography', you can select the geographical breakdown you wish to see, such as by region. In 'Year of Marriage' you can select for which years you would like to see data.
Then, click 'Download data' to produce a dataset based on the variables you have chosen.
Please note that these data are only for England and Wales, and this kind of geographical breakdown is only available for marriages of opposite-sex couples at the moment. You will see that the equivalent dataset on Nomis for same-sex couples does not include an option to break down by geographies. Also, both datasets go up to year of marriage of 2020; the ONS has not yet published data based on years past 2020.
For the total number of marriages that took place (opposite-sex and same-sex couples, combined) in England and Wales, from 2017 to 2020 (inclusive), please see the most recent publication on this topic on the ONS website, accessible via the following link: Marriages in England and Wales.
Data pertaining to Northern Ireland and Scotland can be obtained by contacting Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA) and National Records Scotland (NRS) at info@nisra.gov.uk and Requesting Information | National Records of Scotland (nrscotland.gov.uk) respectively.
Divorces
We produce an annual dataset based on the number of divorces granted in England and Wales.
Please see the following link to the most recent edition of this dataset: Divorces in England and Wales.
Please download the 2021 edition of the dataset, and see Table 1.
This will provide the total number of divorces granted in England and Wales from 2017 to 2020 (inclusive). For these years, 'All divorces' includes both divorces of opposite-sex and same-sex couples.
Please note that figures represent both divorces and annulments that took place in England and Wales, and please note that these estimates are not for the whole of the UK. Also, the ONS does not produce statistics on divorces, broken down by geographies.
Data pertaining to Northern Ireland and Scotland can be requested from NISRA and NRS.
In terms of statistics on the number of (divorce) petitions filed (including civil partnerships), these are published quarterly by the Ministry of Justice (MoJ); please see the most recent Family court statistics quarterly release. Table 12 provides applications (petitions filed) by quarter. Table 13 provides the number of cases started.
When accessing any of our files please read the 'notes, terms and conditions' contained within them.
If you have any queries about the data provided, please contact pop.info@ons.gov.uk.