FOI Ref: FOI/2021/2904
You asked
Could you please publish the relevant statistics concerning marriage rates for the following communities since the year 2000:
Total marriages per year in the UK;
And of those marriages:
Total Christian marriages (any denomination);
Total Hindu marriages;
Total Muslim marriages;
Total Sikh marriages;
Total religious (other) marriages;
Total non-religious marriages.
Total gay marriages per year in the UK;
And of those gay marriages:
Total Christian gay marriages (any denomination);
Total Hindu gay marriages;
Total Muslim gay marriages;
Total Sikh gay marriages;
Total religious (other) gay marriages;
Total non-religious gay marriages.
We said
Thank you for your enquiry.
Marriage statistics are derived from information recorded when marriages are registered as part of civil registration, a legal requirement; these data represent the best and most complete data source. The registration of marriages taking place in England and Wales is a service carried out by the Local Registration Service in partnership with the General Register Office (GRO). Legally, a marriage is solemnised in either a civil or religious ceremony and is recorded in a register.
Total marriages per year in the UK from 2000
We have produced the following dataset, containing historic marriage statistics up to 2017: Vital statistics in the UK: births, deaths and marriages. These figures can be found in column B of the 'Marriage Civil Partners Divorce' table.
We also hold figures of same-sex couples in this table in columns N to Y.
To publish this dataset ONS collaborate with N. Ireland (NISRA: Northern Island Statistical Research Agency) and Scotland (NRS: National Records Scotland) to collate headline figures for the UK. Due to individual publishing timelines, analysis of UK figures for 2018 are expected to be published January 2022. Therefore, for more recent statistics for Scotland and Northern Ireland marriage statistics please contact National Records Scotland and NISRA respectively.
Marriages by religious status
We have recently published details of marriages in 2018 in our Marriages in England and Wales. It is currently only possible to publish final annual marriage statistics around 26 months after the end of the reference year. This is due to delays in the submission of religious marriage entries by the clergy and authorised persons.
We do not hold information on the denomination of marriages. Marriage statistics by denomination can be misleading as some religious marriages (for example Muslim and Sikh) can take place at unregistered premises. To be registered as a legal marriage the couple have a further marriage ceremony in a registry office or approved building. Such weddings are coded as civil marriages because only the civil marriage certificate is received.
We only publish religious ceremony figures for Roman Catholic and Other Christian denominations, which can be found in table 1 In columns H and I.
Same sex marriages by religious status
We do not hold information on denomination of marriages of same sex couples. Same sex religious ceremonies are very few each year. We cannot aggregate these figures down to each individual religion as these figures would be assessed as disclosive. This is in line with the ONS disclosure control policy.
If you would like to discuss your request further, please contact health.data@ons.gov.uk.