"Figure 2: Number of marriages of same sex couples and civil partnerships, 2006 to 2015","" "England and Wales","" "","" "Notes","1. Following the introduction of the [Civil Partnership Act 2004](http://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2004/33/contents) , the first day that couples could normally form a partnership was 21 December 2005 in England and Wales. Civil partnerships still remain available to same sex couples following the introduction of marriages for same sex couples. 2. An announcement was made in December 2013 that marriages of same sex couples could be formed in England and Wales from 29 March 2014. 3. Marriage figures for 2015 are due to be published in autumn-winter 2017. " "Unit","Number" "","" "","Male civil partnerships","Female civil partnerships","Male marriages","Female marriages" "2006","9003","5940","","" "2007","4371","3558","","" "2008","3536","3022","","" "2009","2962","2725","","" "2010","2868","2936","","" "2011","3171","2981","","" "2012","3138","3224","","" "2013","2673","2973","","" "2014","954","729","2129","2721" "2015","570","291","",""